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HEALTH PRIMERS. 
Noe F; 


HEA LT Hy POR Weee rs. 


EDITORS. 
J. LANGDON DOWN, M.D., F.R.C.P. 
HENRY POWER, M.B., F.R.C-S. 
J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M.D. 
JOHN TWEEDY, F.R.C.S. 


CONTRIBUTORS TO THE SERIES. 
G. W. BALFOUR, M.D., St. And., F.R. C. P. Edin. 
J. CRICHTON-BROWNE, M.D., Edin., F. R. S. Edin. 
SIDNEY COUPLAND, M.D., Lond., M.R.C.P. 
JOHN CURNOW, M.D., Lond., F. R.C. P. 
J. LANGDON DOWN, M.D., Lond., F.R.C. P. 
TILBURY FOX, M.D., Lond., F/R.C. P. 
J. MORTIMER-GRANVILLE, M. D., St. And., F.G.S., F.S.S, 
W. S. GREENFIELD, M.D., Lond., M.R.C. P. 
C. W. HEATON, F.C.S., F.1.C. 
HARRY LEACH, M.R.C.P. 3 
G. V. POORE, M.D., Lond., F.R.C.P. * 
HENRY POWER, M.B., Lond., F.R.C.S. 
W. L. PURVES, M.D., Edin., M.R.C.S. 
J. NETTEN RADCLIFFE, Ex-Pres. Epidl. Soc., ete, 
C. H. RALFE, M.A., M. D., Cantab., F.R.C. P. 
S. RINGER, M.D., Lond., F.R.C.P. 
JOHN TWEEDY, F.R.C.S. 
JOHN WILLIAMS, M. D., Lond., M.R.C.P. 


HEALTH PRIMERS. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


BY 


C. H-RALFE,M.D. 


NEW YORK: 
D:; APPLEVE ON. AND: COMPANY; 
549 & 551 BROADWAY. 


1879. 


PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 


One of the most encouraging signs of social im- 
provement is the increasing attention that has been 
given of late years to the subject of personal and 
public hygiene. Information of great value to the 
community, regarding the conditions and care of 
health, has been disseminated among all classes, by 
means of books, periodicals, tracts, and lectures. But, 
as generally happens when public interest is strongly 
excited in any given direction, the publications called 
forth have many of them been of a very questionable 
sort. Though it is of the greatest importance that 
books upon health should be in the highest degree 
trustworthy, it is notorious that most of the cheap and 
popular kind are the mere crude compilations of in- 
competent persons, and are often misleading and in- 


CS ee 


vi PREFACE. 


Impressed by these considerations, several eminent 
medical and scientific men of London have combined 
to prepare a series of HEALTH PRIMERS, of a charac- 
ter that shall be entitled to the fullest public confi- 
dence. They are to be brief, simple, and elementary 
in statement, and they will be filled with substantial 
and useful information, suitable for the guidance of 
grown-up people. Each primer will be written by a 
gentleman specially competent to treat his subject; 
while the choice of topics and the critical supervision 
of the books will be in the hands of an able and re- 
sponsible committee. The series will deal with the 
chief hygienic subjects that are of vital importance to 
the individual and the family, and will form a cheap 
and compendious popular library of health-manuals 
which should find a place in every household. 

As these little books are produced by English au- 
thors, they are naturally based very much upon English 
experience, and contain many local references. But 
it matters little whence illustrations upon such sub- 
jects are drawn, because principles and rules are appli- 
cable everywhere. Even the primer on “ The House 
and its Surroundings,” which is the one most affected 
by the circumstances and habits of English life, is full 
of most excellent instruction by which Americans can 


PREFACE. Vil 


profit, on the relations of dwellings to health; while the 
various references in the different volumes to the Eng- 
lish health-laws will be by no means without value to 
American readers. As respects local considerations, 
it is to be remembered that hygienic questions vary 
even in this country, North and South, on the coast 
and in the interior, in low-lying districts and in upland 
regions; yet the essential conditions of avoiding dis- 
ease and preserving health are to a great degree every- 
where the same. . 

The next number of this series will be on “ Alco- 
hol: its Use and Abuse,” by W.S. Greenfield, M. D.; 
to be followed by “ The House and its Surroundings,” 
“Premature Death: its Promotion or Prevention,” 
and other primers. 


CO Noe NLS: 


TUN EA CHE CINGIPLES. Joie lah tan on Crag is, oe oe ss 5 


THE EXERCISE SUITABLE FOR DIFFERENT AGES, SEX, 


MNCL y StCALE CON DULIONS st ire) ses daha) ah Te 


TRAINING « 6 6 © © © © © © © © © © 6 ©) 53 


rr 


re TRA 


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I WG. 


BAERCISE 


SECTION I.. 
GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 


1. Definition.—The term “exercise” is applied, physio- 
logically, to the functional activity evoked in any part or 
organ of the body by an appropriate stimulus. Popularly, 
however, by exercise is understood the movements of 
the body which are effected by the contraction of the 
voluntary muscles. It is in this latter sense that we 
shall treat the term, though the secondary effect that 
muscular exercise has on circulation, secretion, and the 
nervous system will receive attention. 

2. Structure of Voluntary Muscles.—-The voluntary 
muscles, so called because they are under the control of 
the will, through the medium of the nerves supplied to 
them, constitute what is known as the “red flesh.” They 
consist of bundles of fibres (fascicult) bound together by 
a delicate tissue (areolar), each bundle being again sub- 
divided into smaller bundles till only a single fibre can 
be separated. This ultimate fibre is invested in a fine 


6 EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 


membrane (sarcolemma), distinct however in character 
from the tissue that surrounds the bundles. This solitary 
fibre in its turn can be again divided into delicate fibrille, 
each of which is marked transversely with fine lines 
(stri@). ‘These lines appear to be produced by alternate 
dark and light particles, of which the dark probably con- 
stitute the muscular contractile element. These details 


will be rendered clear by a reference to the woodcut. 
FIG, 2. 


—— 


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Fibril showing alternate light and dark 


a. Fasciculus of muscular fibres. 
é, 6. Fibres. coloured particles. 
c. A fibre split into fibrillz. a, 6, c. A collection of small fibrils. 
d, ad. The smallest that can be detached. 


(After Sharpey.) 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 7 


‘Every muscle is supplied by nerves through which it 
receives the stimulus which excites it to contraction from 
the nervous centres—the brain and spinal cord. It is also 
abundantly supplied with blood by means of arteries, 
capillaries, delicate vessels that ramify among the fibres, 
and veins. 

The voluntary muscles are attached to the bones on 
which they act by means of tendons, which consist of 
bands of fibrous tissue, and have a shining silvery 
appearance. 

The muscles are kept in their places by a general in- 
vestment of fibrous and connective tissue, which dips 
between them, and forms nearly a continuous covering 
of the body beneath the skin; to this investment or sheath 
the term fascia is given. 

3. Lunction of Afuscle—The characteristic property of 
muscle is its contractz/ity, and it is in virtue of this power 
of contraction that the external mechanical work of the 
body is effected. 

When at rest a muscle is in what is termed its elongated 
condition, though even then there is a slight degree of 
tension of its fibres, which is of advantage in giving effect 
to the first part of the contraction. When the appropriate 
stimulus is applied, the elongated muscle shortens and 
becomes thicker, thus bringing the ends of the fibres 
together. 


8 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


A muscle, after prolonged contraction or series of con- 
tractions, becomes fatigued ; that is, a stronger stimulus 
(for instance, a greater effort of will) is required to 
produce the same degree of contraction. The more 
rapidly the contractions are induced, the quicker will the 
sense of fatigue manifest itself ; and the greater the degree 
of fatigue, the longer will be the period of rest required 
before the muscle regains its full powers of contraction. 

By use muscles increase in size, familiar instances 
of which are seen in the bulky arm of the blacksmith, 
and the leg of the ballet dancer. If disused, muscles 
dwindle and waste, as may be noticed in the limbs of 
persons crippled by disease or injury. 

4. Work done by Muscular Contraction.—The work 
done in the body may be divided into three kinds. 
1. Jnternal work, the nervous energy required for regu- 
lating the processes of the body, or for intellectual pur- 
suits, and the force required to carry out the functions of 
secretion, digestion, assimilation, &c. 2. Calorific work, 
the production of heat for the maintenance of the animal 
temperature. 3. Axternal mechanical work, or the force 
which takes the form of muscular activity. 

Now the amount of force expended on each of these 
different forms of work varies with the individual, but the 
force is the same, however employed, or in whatever form 
it is developed. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 9 


From calculations made by different observers, the 
amount of force daily expended by an adult weighing 
150 lbs. in the performance of the internal, calorific, and 
external mechanical work of the body has been estimated 
at about 3,400 foot-tons,* of which 260 are required for 
the internal or vital work of the body, 2,840 for the 
maintenance of the animal heat, and 300 for the ordinary 
external mechanical work. 

Estimates have also been made showing the amount of 
work a man weighing 150 lbs, can accomplish in eight 
hours’ vigorous occupation at different kinds of labour. 
Thus, eight hours’ pile-driving is equal to the force ex- 
pended in lifting 312 tons 1 foot; turning a winch, 374 
tons lifted 1 foot ; military prisoners at shot drill (three 
hours) and oakum picking and drill, 310 tons lifted 1 foot ; 
and for rowing 1 mile at racing speed in an outrigged 
eight-oar, 18°56 tons lifted 1 foot. 

And Professor Parkes has calculated that walking 1 mile 
on the level, unloaded, is equal to lifting 17°67 tons 
1 foot; but if loaded with a knapsack weighing 60 lbs., 
the work done is equivalent to 24°75 foot-tons. Looking | 
at these facts, and considering that the most healthy life 
is that of a man engaged in moderate labour in the open 
air, and that the daily work performed by him will pro- 


* A “‘work unit” is the force required to raise 1 Jb. 1 foot in 
height. 


| Ke) EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 


bably average from 250 to 380 tons lifted 1 foot, Professor 
Parkes thinks we can form an approximate idea of the 
daily exercise a healthy adult should take without incur- 
ring the risk of over-fatigue ; and this he assumes would - 
be equivalent to a walk of nine miles ; but allowance 
must be made for the other exertion incurred by the 
ordinary business of life, which in many cases would 
cause a considerable reduction. 

5. Source of Muscular Force.—Every action of the 
living body is attended by chemical changes in the com- 
position of its tissues, and in these chemical changes a 
quantity of force is liberated, which, either in the form of 
heat, maintains the temperature of the body, or, as_ 
motion, endues it with activity. 

This force enters the body in a latent state (potential 
energy) in the form of the food that is being continuously 
introduced for the support of the body, and the oxygen 
that is drawn into the lungs at every respiration. 

Now the constituents of the food—carbon, hydrogen, 
and nitrogen—in their early history were combined with 
a considerable proportion of oxygen, and existed in the 
air and in the soil in the form of carbonic acid, water, 
and carbonate of ammonia. Now the partial removal 
of oxygen was effected by the agency of the vegetable 
kingdom. The plant, under the influence of the sun’s 
rays, liberates a quantity of oxygen from the carbonic 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING, Il 


acid, water, and ammonia, and converts them into those 
sugars, oils, fats, and flesh-forming materials which are 
ultimately destined to supply the animal with food. That 
plants exert this power of removing oxygen may be 
readily shown by a simple experiment. For if a bunch of 
fresh green leaves be plunged into a broad-necked bottle 
containing fresh spring water, or water containing car- 
bonic acid in solution, and ‘the bottle turned mouth 
downwards into a basin of water, so as to exclude air, 
and the whole exposed to strong sunlight for an hour or 
more, the leaves will become covered with minute 
bubbles; and these bubbles have been proved to be 
bubbles of oxygen, which is derived from the decom- 
position of the carbonic acid of the water: the oxygen 
is then set free, whilst the carbon is absorbed to form the 
tissues of the plant. 

In this process of separation (de-oxidation), however, a 
considerable quantity of the heat derived from the sun 
becomes latent, one portion of it being taken up by the 
liberated oxygen, the other accumulated in the tissues 
and juices of the plant. And this heat will remain latent 
till the oxygen and the carbon are again united. 

This reunion of carbon and oxygen is effected either 
by the direct burning of carbon in oxygen, as takes 
place when fuel is burnt in our grates—for coal is the 


carbon stored up in the vegetable kingdom ages ago 
: 2 


I2 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


under the influence of a tropical sun—or when the 
carbon elements of the food and tissues are submitted to 
the action of the oxygen of air introduced into the body 
by the act of respiration. 

By this union the latent (potential) energy of the 
‘oxygen and the elements of the food and tissues are con- 
verted into an active force (kinetic), which takes the 
form of heat or its correlative motion. 

6. Relationship between Heat and Motion.—We have 
already stated (paragraph 4) that the work done in the 
body may be divided into three kinds, and that the 
greatest part of the work, amounting to nearly 60 per 
cent. of the whole, is employed in the production of 
heat or in external mechanical work. And we stated 
that though the amount of force expended on each of 
these different forms of work varies with the individual, 
still the force is the same, however employed, or in 
whatever form it is developed. To make this statement 
clearer we will now refer to some experiments showing 
the correlation existing between heat and motion, and 
show how the one can be converted into the other. 

Professor Joule, of Manchester, found that when water 
was agitated by means of a horizontal paddle-wheel 
made to revolve by the descent of a known weight, the 
temperature of the water was raised 1° Fahr. by the ex- 
penditure of an amount of force sufficient to raise 772 Ib. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 13 


the height of 1 foot. When cast-iron was rubbed against 
cast-iron, the force required to raise 1 1b. of water 
1° Fahr. was found to be about 775 foot-pounds. The con- 
clusion to be drawn from these facts is, that the quantity 
of heat capable of raising the temperature of 1 Ib. of 
water (between 50° and 60° Fahr.) 1° of temperature re- 
quires for its evolution an expenditure of a mechanical 
force adequate to raise 772 lb. to the height of 1 foot. 
Conversely, the steam-engine is an example of the change 
of heat into motion; and, as it has been shown in the 
foregoing example, that so much mechanical energy pro- 
duces so much heat, so in the steam-engine itcan be shown 
that a definite quantity of heat develops so much motion. 

Our muscles, therefore, may be regarded as machines 
for converting the potential energy derived from the food 
and oxygen into mechanical force. Only, as Professor 
Odling has so weil expressed it, our muscles are more 
perfect contrivances as motive machines, because they 
are more economical in their action. The most perfect 
steam-engine ever invented wastes quite 40 per cent. of 
its heat in producing motion. In muscle the loss is 
hardly appreciable. ete 

Lastly; muscular exertion again produces heat, just as 
in the steam-engine heat is developed by the friction of 
the revolving wheels and the piston; part of this heat 
goes to maintain the temperature of the body, and part, 


14 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


no doubt, is again used in the production of muscular 
motion: “for in nature no force is ever dissipated, and 
the operation of force is again force in its turn, and there 
is no progress unless force is continually changing its 
form.” 

9, Force-values of Food—The amount of work done 
in the body has been stated (4) to correspond closely to 
the force required to raise 3,400 tons to the height of 
1 foot. Now if we know what the effective force-value 
of the food is, we can calculate approximately the daily 
income and expenditure of force in the body. 

The force-values of the different principles of food 
have been calculated by Professor Frankland by burning 
a definite weight of them in a dry state in oxygen; and 
by observing the ‘‘ units of heat” furnished by their com- 
bustion, and converting these “heat units” into “units 
of motion” (6), he obtained the mechanical force of each 
principle of diet in foot-pounds, as follows :— 


Foot-pounds. 


I5 grains of dry albumen (fleshy matter). = 13,851 
15 yy. datlof beef oy 40 4. ee ae ee eon 
15 x statchin, ae, Urartu see take 2 a ae Eos 


If, therefore, 1,800 grains of dry albumen, 1,350 grains 
of fat, and 4,900 grains of starch be*daily consumed, an 
amount of force capable of lifting 7,910,045 lbs. to the 
height of 1 foot, or 3,530 foot-tons, will be derived from 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. ” 15 


the food; a result closely corresponding with the calcu- 
lated estimate of the total work done in the body, viz., 
3,400 foot-tons. 

This close correspondence between the energy taken in 
and the active force expended is most interesting. And 
itis to be hoped that an extension of the inquiry will 
eventually lead to a determination of the most suitable, or 
perhaps, as it would be better expressed, the most effec- 
tive food or mixture of foods on which muscular exertion 
can be maintained. Formerly it was supposed that the 
combustion of the albuminous fleshy principles was the 
chief if not the sole source of muscular force. This view 
is now considerably modified ; for as muscular exertion 
is always attended by an increased elimination of carbonic 
acid and water, which is chiefly derived from the destruc- 
tion of the fats and starches, and as, moreover, great 
fatigue and exertion can be borne for some days on a diet 
composed entirely of these articles without the use of 
flesh, it is held that these articles furnish a much larger 
proportion of muscular force than has hitherto been ad- 
mitted.* Professor Haughtonf is of opinion that the 


* It is important to notice the high force-value yielded by the 
combustion of fat—more than double the amount furnished by a 
similar weight of either albumen or starch. 

+ Address delivered at the British Medical Association at Oxford, 
1868. 


16 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


muscular qualities developed by the two kinds of food 
(flesh and farinaceous) differ considerably from each 
other. Thus the deer will outstrip the leopard in fair 
chase because the force supplied to its muscles by its 
vegetable food is capable of being used continuously for 
a long period of time, but the leopard in its sudden spring 
has the advantage over the deer, because its fleshy food » 
forms a store of force capable of being given out instan- 
aoe 2 

* Professor Haughton has also pointed out that miners, 
labourers, and others whose exertions are continuous, 
instinctively prefer the fatty and farinaceous articles 
of diet; whilst the athlete, whose muscular exertion 
is more sudden and less continuous, prefers a diet 
consisting chiefly of flesh, The weight-drawing cart- 
horse fed on beans and grass, and the racehorse fed 
on corn, which contains a large percentage of albu- 
minous matter, may be cited as another illustration of 
this point. 

8. Action of Muscles on the Skeleton.—Muscles, by 
their power of shortening, bring the movable parts of the 
skeleton towards each other, and thus give rise to a variety 
of movement. The muscles which act on the bones and 
cartilages of the body act nearly always as on levers, since 
these parts are generally arranged so as to be movable 
round a point (the joint). 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 17 


Joints may be divided into two classes—fixed* and 
movable. 

A fixed joint (synchondrosis) is formed by the closely 
opposing surfaces of two bones, a layer of cartilage 
intervening between them, and bound firmly together 
by strong bands of ligament. The movement allowed 
by ,such an arrangement is very slight, and only as a 
consequence of powerful muscular contraction. As soon 
as this contraction is over, the bones at once resume 
their original position. The spinal column, with the 
exception of the two upper bones, which support the 
head, consists of a series of such joints; and the advan- 
tage of the arrangement is the stability given to the 
trunk, with a considerable degree of elasticity in addition. 

In the movable joint, the two ends of the bones 
forming the joint oppose each other by surfaces covered 
by true cartilage, one of which is always larger than the 
other. Between these surfaces there is interposed a 
closed membranous bag, which is filled with a tenacious 
viscid fluid, which lubricates the interior of the joint and 
promotes free mobility. ‘The manner in which this bag 
fits between the ends of the articulating bones is well 
seen in Fig. 3, which represents the arrangement of the 


* The term “fixed” is only relative: the only absolutely im- 
movable class of joints are the swtures by which the bones of the 
skull are connected. 


18 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


synovial membranes in the foot, especially in the com- 
plicated arrangement of membrane ¢, which is interposed 
between no less than eight bones. 

Fig: The motion of the joint, how- 
ever, is checked, and the bones. 
which compose it kept in ap- 
position, by means of the liga- 
ments, whichare bands of fibrous 
tissue stretching from one bone 
to the other, either as narrow 
cords or spread out to form a 
capsule, which entirely surrounds 
the joint. The tension of the 
surrounding muscles also helps 
in keeping the surfaces of the 
4 joint in contact. 

j Examples of the three kinds 
of lever are met with in the 
human skeleton, though those 
of the second and third kind 
are the most common. Fig. 4 
represents the body ma stooping 
position ; in order to restore it 
Arrangement of synovial membrane Eee 
of the foot. The synovial mem- to the erect position, the ham- 
brane is coloured black (from : A 
Erichsen’s Surgery). string muscle, P, which repre- 
sents the power, acts on the haunch bone (pelvis) to 


etttee, 
7) br) 
. 
> 
. 
: 
: 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 19 


overcome W, the weight of the body, and raise by the 
axis of motion, F, the hip-jomt. The hip-joint, there- 
fore, is a lever of the first kind, since the arrangement 
is power, fulcrum, and weight (P, F, W). 


FIG. 4. 


Hip. 
In opening the mouth (Fig. 5) we have a lever of the 
second kind, the small muscle, P, being the power that 


20 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


depresses the lower jaw, the weight being the tension of 
the strong muscle, W, that keeps the mouth closed, and 
the fulcrum, F, the joint situated behind this muscle ; 
consequently the arrangement in this case is power, 
Weight, fulcrum (P, W, F). In the act of-closing the 
mouth, the position of the power and weight is reversed, 
and we have a lever of the third kind, where the arrange- 
ment is weight, power, fulcrum (W, P, F). The elbow 
Fic. 6, (Fig. 6) is another example of a 
F P w lever of the third kind. It is to 
be observed that in the majority 
; of instances the insertion of the 
muscle (the power), as is shown 
in Figs. 4 and 6, is near the 
~ fulcrum, so that the power-arm 
- of the lever P F is shorter than 
the weight-arm, W F. This ar- 
z . rangement, though it diminishes 
Elbow. the power, enables movements to 

be performed with greater velocity. 

Muscles may be broadly divided into two divisions— 
those that bend, the limbs and trunk, the flexors ; and 
those that extend them, the extensors. This action can 
be shown in the arm by bending the forearm, when it 
will be found that the large muscle, the biceps, in front 
of the arm, swells up into a firm hard mass, and on for- 


wee ee eee wee eee ween- = 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 2I 


cibly extending the forearm the swelling disappears and 
the muscle becomes elongated ; whilst at the same time 
it will be noticed that the muscle, triceps, at the back 
of the arm, has become fuller and harder. The biceps, 
therefore, is the flexor of the forearm, and the triceps the 
extensor. 

There are also other muscles which, though they may 
be accessory to the acts of flexion and extension, per- 
form particular actions, as bringing the limbs closely 
against the trunk, or toward each other, adductors ; as, for 
instance, the muscles that grip the saddle in riding, or 
the abductors that move the limbs from the trunk, or 
from each other, and those which separate the limbs 
from each other to form the body adductors. 

9. Zhe Erect Position.—In the erect position the whole 
body rests entirely supported by the two feet touching the 
ground in a position of equilibrium. ‘The centre of 
gravity for the whole body is a point situated at the 
bottom of the spinal column. If the line of direction 
drawn perpendicular from the centre of gravity should 
fall within the basis of support, viz. between the two feet, 
the erect position can be maintained without much 
difficulty, the muscles only coming into use to supple- 
ment the somewhat unstable equilibrium. When the 
line drawn from the centre of gravity falls outside this 
basis, the tendency is for the body to fall. Up to a 


22 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


certain point; however, strong muscular action overcomes 
this tendency. 

10. Walking.—In walking the trunk is regularly and 
alternately supported by only one of the two legs; the 
active leg being dragged: forward a certain distance, the 
length of the step, just sufficiently bent to avoid contact 
with the ground, while the passive leg acts as a support 
to the trunk. The various movements that occur in 
the performance of the act may be made intelligible by 


reference to Fig. 7. 
FIG. 7. 


(From Kirke’s Physiology, by Morrant Baker.) 


At the commencement, the person standing firmly 
with the left foot in advance, the first act consists in 
raising the heel of the right foot (2), which is accom- 
plished by the powerful muscles of the calf. At the 
same time the weight of the body is transferred to the 
left side, and the trunk is bent slightly forward; it is 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 23 


evident that this inclination forwards will, if carried 
much further, cause the body to fall forwards, unless 
_ the right leg is put forward to support it (3). 

This is effected by the brisk swinging of the right leg 
forward, just sufficiently bent to clear the ground, the toe 
being the last to leave, and the heel the first to touch 
the surface. Three sets of muscles are used in the per- 
formance of this movement,—viz. those in front of the 
thigh, which draw the thigh forwards; the hamstring 
muscles at the back of the thigh, which raise the leg; 
and muscles in the front part of the leg, on the outside 
of the shin, which raise the foot and the toes. 

By the time the right foot has reached the surface, 
the heel of the left foot is raised, throwing the weight of 
the body over to the right side, causing an inclination 
of the body forwards, and the necessity of a speedy 
advance of the left leg. 

The constant transference of the weight of the body 
alternately from one leg to another gives a swinging 
motion to the trunk, which can be well observed by 
standing behind a person walking away from one. This 
swaying is much more exaggerated in some persons than 
in others. 

The rapidity of walking depends on the length of the 
step and the rapidity with which the legs are swung 
(oscillation).. Now the length of the step is directly 


24 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


proportionate to the length of the limb; which is greater 
when the active leg is well extended, and less when the 
limb is bent or flexed; whilst the shorter the active 
leg (the pendulum), the greater the rapidity of oscillation. 
A pedestrian, therefore, who ‘‘ walks from his hips,” ze. 
properly extends both thigh and leg, would have con- 
siderable advantage over an opponent possessing the 
same length of limb, but who “walked with his leg,” 
z.¢é. unduly raised his heel and bent his leg in the 
act of raising it from the ground, as he would have to 
expend more muscular force in effecting more rapid 
oscillation of the limb to compensate for the shortening 
of stride. 

In order to calculate the length of each step, and the 
period occupied by each oscillation, the length of the 
limb, the rate of walking, and the number of steps taken 
in a given time must be ascertained: thus a man the 
length of whose leg was thirty-four inches, walking at the 
rate of four miles an hour, took 2000 steps every 15 
minutes; consequently the length of each step must have 
been 2°64 feet, and the time of each oscillation 0°45 
second. 

11. Running and Leaping.—In walking, there is an 
interval of time during which both feet rest on the floor, viz. 
the heel of the leg that has just finished, and the toe of the 
leg that is just beginning oscillation. This interval, in very 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 25 


quick walking, almost entirely disappears.* In running 
there is an interval in the period of the step when both 
feet are off the ground; that is to say, one leg has com- 
menced to swing forward before the other leg has finished 
its oscillation: consequently there is a brief period when 
the body is unsupported. In order to prevent its falling 
during the time it is in the air, a kind of jerk or short 
leap is given, which is effected by flexing the active leg 
at the commencement of the step and forcibly extend- 
ing it. 

In leaping, this powerful action of the extensor muscles 
is much more developed, whilst at the same time the 
heels are raised by the action of the muscles of the calf 
of the leg. 

12. Rowing.—In the sitting posture the trunk rests on 
the two prominences of the buttocks (tubera ischit), on 
which it can swing backwards and forwards. In rowing 
the body is alternately brought forward, and back again 
to a position a little beyond the vertical line of the erect 
position. 

Now, supposing the rowers to be sitting in the erect 
position, the first act is the swing forwards, which is per- 
formed chiefly by the action of two muscles attached to 
the lower part of the trunk (fJsoas magnus and tliacus), and 
inserted into the upper part of the thigh-bone. At the 


* In pedestrian matches fair walking is always ‘‘ toe and heel.” 


26 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


same moment the arms are fully extended, the upper 
arm chiefly by the serratus magnus—a large, broad, flat 
muscle, arising from the upper part of the back and side 
of the chest-——and inserted into the blade-bone, which by 
drawing the shoulder forward gives addi.ional reach to 
the arm. The forearm is extended by the /riceps, the 
powerful muscle at the back of the arm. Whilst in this 
forward position, the extensor muscles on the front of the 
thigh and the muscles of the calf of the leg are relaxed. 
The second act is the restoring the body to the erect 
position, or somewhat beyond the vertical line, ‘This is 
effected by the g/uéez muscles, the large muscles of the 
buttock which raise the trunk, and the hamstring muscles 
which draw the fudera ischit forwards and downwards. 
At the same time they are drawn back by the action 
of the trapezius and latissimus dorst muscles. ‘The first 
muscle arising from a line extending from the lowest 
point of the back of the head, from the ligament of the - 
neck, and from the spines of the seventh and all the 
dorsal vertebree, is inserted into the part of the shoulder ; 
the other muscle arises from the upper part of the haunch 
bone, from six lower dorsal vertebrze and by slips from the 
three lower ribs, and is inserted into the upper part of 
the arm-bone. It is evident that the fixed point of attach- 
ment of these two muscles being chiefly at the spine, the 
contraction of their fibres will tend to draw back the 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 27 


shoulder and arm, Then in bringing the handle of the 

oar to the chest, the arms are bent by. th the action of the 
biceps, and the arms and _ elbows,5rou: ght mnearlyto the 
side, chiefly by the action of the/fPectoralis major): dhe TF&e 
muscle springing froma the frot and upper: part Ze 
chest, and inserted into the upper part. of ‘the,arm ; t \ 
movement is also aided by taacton of the datissinnus 
dorst. ‘“ f 

At the commencement of the recovery, the extensor : 
muscles in front of the thigh and seen, 8 of the calf” 
of the leg become powerfully contracted, and pressing the 
foot firmly against the “stretcher” enables the body to 
retain its position during the action of the glutei. In 
addition to these essential movements other muscles are 
employed, as in the act of depressing the handle of the 
oar, and in turning the wrist in the motion of the hands 
forwards, by which a considerable number of muscles in 
the body are continuously brought into play. 

From the foregoing account it will be gathered that 
the muscles chiefly concerned in rowing are in the order 
of importance: 1. Those of the hip, the gluteei ; 2. Those 
of the thighs and legs, the extensors of the thigh, the 
hamstring muscles, and the muscles of the calf of the leg ; 

3. Those of the loins and the upper and back part of 

the chest, the latissimus dorsi, serratus magnus, and 

trapezius ; 4. Those of the arm and forearm, the triceps, 
3 


Hf 


Se EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 


which extends, and the biceps, which flexes the one on 
the other, and the muscles of the forearm brought into 
action by the movement of the wrist in feathering, &c. ; 
and, 5. the muscle in front of the chest (pectoralis 
major), which aids in bringing the arms and elbow against 
the side.* 

13. Varieties of Exercise—In walking, running, and 
rowing, most employment is given to the muscles of the 
lower limbs and trunk ; consequently, if these be the sole 
kind of exercise taken, the muscles of the chest and upper 
extremity do not become proportionately developed. It 
is difficult indeed to find a natural variety of exercise that 
can be practised sufficiently frequently, which calls equally 
into play the muscles of the whole body, or that gives 
sufficient action to the muscles of the upper extremity, 
so as to counterbalance the excessive employment of 
the lower. 


* In the admirable accounts of ‘‘muscular action in rowing,” 
given respectively by Mr. MacLaren in his work on ‘ Training,’ and 
by Mr. Skey, in the Zazcet, Oct. 2, 1869, the former seems to 
estimate too highly the work done by the legs, and regard too little 
the work done by the muscles at the upper and back part of the 
chest, the serratus magnus and trapezius ; whilst Mr. Skey assigns 
the part played by the muscles of the thigh and leg too low a posi- 
tion. Since the introduction of sliding seats the work thrown on 
the muscles of the thigh and leg has greatly increased, especially 
with regard to the hamstring muscles, 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 29 


Undue stress has, however, been laid on this point, and 
on the necessity for giving greater employment to the 
muscles of the upper half of the body than is at present 
the case. The lower limbs are designed especiaily for 
power and strength, and the support of the weight of the 
body, whilst the upper are chiefly engaged in performing 
acts of precision and dexterity ; great muscular develop- 
ment is therefore not required, for what they would gain 
in power, they would lose in dexterity. In our opinion, 
the natural varieties of exercise of cricket, football, and 
rowing for boys ; hunting, shooting, &c., for men, pursued 
at the different seasons of the year, are quite sufficient 
for a proper development of all parts of the body, in 
accordance with the uses of the different limbs, for the 
development of special muscles ; or, where a great variety 
of exercise cannot be procured, a system of gymnastics 
may be pursued. To the advocates for the adoption of 
systematic physical education by means of gymnasia at 
our schools, whilst we concede the immense value of 
such establishments in large towns, where outdoor exer- 
cise and field sports are difficult of attainment, or in 
cases where from physical debility the muscles have to 
be gradually developed, still we maintain that the national 
games played by the English schoolboy are infinitely 
superior to any system of artificial exercise ever devised. 
All that is really required is that the exercise should be 


30 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


sufficiently brisk, so as to bring the respiratory muscles 
into action. 

In the following list is given the different kinds of 
exercise, arranged in accordance to the parts of the body 
chiefly employed in their performance ; and here we would 
insist on the importance of using as great a variety of 
exercise as is attainable:—1. Exercise that brings into 
nearly equal action all the muscles of the body—swimming, 
boxing, fencing, climbing. 2. Lxercise that gives con- 
siderable employment to the upper as well as the lower 
extremity—cricket, rackets, tennis, fives, golf, shooting, 
football, rowing. 3. Axercise which is chiefly performed 
by the lower limbs and trunk, and in which the muscles 
of the upper extremity are auxiliary—leaping, running, 
riding, walking. 

14. Physiological Effect of E-xercise.—Increased action of 
the respiratory and circulatory systems is the most important 
of the physiological effects produced by muscular exercise. 

In man, as in all animals in which the muscular appa- 
'ratus constitutes an important part of the frame, a power- 
ful incentive to respiration is created by its activity, more 
oxygen being introduced into the system in order to burn 
the carbon elements of the food and tissues, from which 
their mechanical force is derived ; whilst more carbonic 
acid, produced by this oxidation by burning, passes out 
of the body. Indeed, it has been shown by direct ex- 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 31 


periment, that muscles themselves have the power of 
absorbing oxygen and exhaling carbonic acid ; and further, 
that the power of muscular contraction is diminished if 
measures are taken to prevent the carbonic acid from 
passing off, | 

Professor Parkes, in his work on Hygiene,* has given 
a concise table, showing the effect exercise has on the 
absorption of oxygen and the evolution of carbonic acid, 
which shows that on a “work day” 83 ounces of oxygen 
were absorbed in excess of a “rest day.” And that 
I3 Ounces in excess of carbonic acid were evolved on 
the “‘ work day,” although the so-called “work day” 
included a period of rest, the work being done only 
during working hours, and was not excessive. 

The increase that takes place in the quantity of air 
inspired under a variety of movements has been studied 
by Dr. E. Smith, who showed that, taking the lying 
position to represent unit, 1; then, in standing, the 
quantity of air inspired rose to 1°33; walking at the 
rate of one mile an hour, to 1°9; and at four miles an 
hour, to 5. Riding and trotting raised it to 4°05; and 
swimming to 4°33. 


* ©Practical Hygiene.’ By Ed. A. Parkes, M.D., F.R.S., late 
Professor of Military Hygiene in the Army Medical School, Netley. 
Fifth edition, by Prof. du Chaumont, Professor of Military Hygiene 
in Army Med. School, Netley. London: Churchill, 1878. 


32 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


Accompanying this increased action of the breathing 
powers there is also an increase in the number of respira- 
tions, z.¢. the number of alternate acts of expansion and 
contraction of the chest. These in a healthy adult 
average from fourteen to eighteen a minute, but with 
exercise they are enormously increased, so that they often, 
as in rowing at racing speed, exceed forty a minute. 
Now it has been shown that the more quickly the move- 
ments of respiration take place, the smaller is the pro- 
portionate quantity of carbonic acid contained in each 
volume of the expired air. Thus, if we take six respira- 
tions a minute, the quantity of carbonic acid is about 
5°5 per cent.; with twelve respirations it is 4°23; with 
twenty-four, 3°33 with forty-eight, 2°9. Although the 
proportionate amount of carbonic acid exhaled out is thus 
decreased, yet the absolute quantity exhaled into the air 
in a given time is increased, owing to the larger quantity 
of air breathed in the time. 

So long, therefore, as the power of maintaining strong 
and rapid respiratory action continues, sufficient oxygen 
is drawn into the body, and the carbonic acid is with- 
drawn with sufficient rapidity ; but when, this power fails, 
then the absorption of oxygen diminishes, and carbonic 
acid accumulates in the blood, producing ‘‘breathlessness.” 

This condition is produced by three agencies, viz., 
(a) interference with the passage of blood through the 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 20 


lungs, (2) the consequent accumulation of blood in the 
right side of the heart, which (c) results in the circulation 
of impure blood, z.e. laden with carbonic acid. 

The interference with the passage of blood through 
the lungs, which is the proximate cause of the condition, 
is owing to the increased action of the heart, both in 
force and frequency; consequently the flow of blood to 
all parts of the body is augmented. Now, till the arteries 
accommodate themselves to the strain of the increased 
pressure thrown on them by the violent action of the 
heart during exercise, the blood does not pass freely 
through them ; consequently there is a blockage, and the 
impure blood coming from the body is not sent on 
quickly enough to the lungs in order to be replenished, 
that is, have its carbonic acid replaced with oxygen. 
When exercise is taken regularly, the arteries soon learn 
to accommodate themselves to this strong action of the 
heart ; and, consequently, we find in training a gradual 
improvement in the breathing power as this concordant 
action between the heart and blood-vessels becomes 
established. 

Two important facts are to be remembered with regard 
to the physiological effect of exercise on the lungs and 
heart :—/irs¢, that exercise, by increasing the breathing 
power, rids us of carbonic acid, and purifies our blood. 
Secondly, by increasing the action of the heart, after a 


34 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


concordant action between it and the arteries has been 
established, it quickens the whole of the vital processes 
throughout the body—renewing the tissues and ee 
the products of their waste. 

Nor must the fact be overlooked, that when unac- 
customed exercise is undertaken after a long period of 
rest, a “blockage” occurs in the arteries, not only of 
those going to the lungs, but to the whole body; so 
when -violent exercise is engaged in without due prepara- 
tion, instead of a beneficial result accruing, much harm 
is done, which in some cases has been permanent. 
Instead of the vital actions being quickened and the 
processes of repair and removal stimulated, they are 
brought almost to a standstill by the ‘‘ blockage” that 
occurs in the arteries, the blood accumulates in the 
chambers of the heart, and additional stress is thrown 
on it; if, as is often the case, the walls of this organ 
are weakened from a deficiency of previous exercise, 
or from advancing age, dilatation of the cavities ensues 
—a very serious form of heart disease. Caution is the 
more needed, as the transition from sedentary habits 
to arduous and exhausting labour is of frequent occur- 
rence. Every year a number of middle-aged men, who 
for years or months have been engaged in the sedentary 
occupations of a profession, of literature, or of business, 
at, the commencement of the autumn holiday start for 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 35 


the Continent or the Highlands, and suddenly undertake 
immense fatigue in the ascent of Alpine heights, or the 
no less laborious work of a day on the moors, without 
the least preparation. So also we see every Bank holi- 
day crowds of young men starting off for some tremen- 
dous walk, or “bucket” up the river, utterly unpre- 
pared for the task they undertake. Is it to be wondered 
at that men return complaining that their holiday has 
done them no good; that instead of vigour, they com- 
plain of exhaustion ; that their appetite fails them, their 
nights are sleepless, their limbs ache, and they are jaded 
and spiritless? It is the evils produced from this erratic 
athleticism that give rise to the formidable indictments that 
from time to time have been urged against vigorous exer- 
cise and the pursuit of manly sports, which, if properly 
managed and undertaken systematically, are really the 
foundation of really healthy life. 

When exercise is properly conducted, the effect on the 
digestive system is very marked. ‘The appetite is in- 
creased, and more food is taken in order to supply the 
force necessary for the maintenance of the mechanical 
force. This increase of appetite is especially noted when 
the exercise is taken in open air. 

When exercise is undertaken, however, without due 
preparation, or the bodily powers are-exhausted by fatigue, 
the power of being able to take food is diminished. This 


36 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


condition, if the exercise is continued, and the power. of 
taking food remains impaired, is one of considerable 
danger, and the health is often greatly affected, the force 
of the heart being much reduced. 

It is of great importance, moreover, when great fatigue 
has been undergone, to see that the bodily powers are 
thoroughly recruited by rest before an attempt is made 
to take food, otherwise there will be no inclination to 
take it, and if forced down it will not digest. An hour's 
rest with a cup of warm tea will do much towards restor- 
ing appetite in these cases. Indeed, it should be a rule 
in all cases that a period of rest should intervene between 
work and food. 

With increased work the muscles gain within certain 
. limits in size, become harder, and at the same time 
act more readily. Dr. Parkes* states that when a single 
musclé or group of muscles is exercised to too great 
extent, it will, after growing to a great size, commence to 
waste. ‘This does not seem to be the case when all the 
muscles of the body are exercised, probably because when 
all the muscles of the body are alternately used no one | 
muscle can be over-exercised. This fact is only another 
illustration of the important law that monotonous repe- 
tition of the same act, whether muscular or mental, 1s 
one of the most potent causes of fatigue. 


* ©Practical Hygiene,’ p. 413. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING, ay! 


Exhaustion of muscles from overwork is due princi- 
pally_to want of supply of oxygen brought to them to 
burn the carbon elements which supply their force, and 
also from the accumulation of the products of their com- 
bustion. This condition of things is brought about, first 
by general fatigue acting on the nervous system and on 
the heart, so that the blood circulates less vigorously, and 
the process of renewal and removal becomes slacker 
and slacker. A muscle that has undergone exhaustion has 
its nutrition seriously impaired, and one day of overwork 
under the hands of an injudicious trainer will perhaps 
not be recovered from for days. Muscular exhaustion, or 
“acute local fatigue” as it has been called, manifests 
itself, not merely in loss of power, but often causes irregular 
painful muscular contractions, cramp, tremor, a peculiar 
quivering and jerking of certain muscles, and muscular 
pain, distinct from cramp and also readily distinguishable 
from other kinds of pain. 


SECTION II. 


THE EXERCISE SUITABLE FOR DIFFERENT AGES, SEX, AND 
PHYSICAL CONDITIONS, 


15. Lxercise in Infancy and Chiléhood.—* A child in 
health,” says Sir W. Jenner, “ delights in movements of 


28 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


every kind. It joys to exercise every muscle. Strip a 
child of a few months old, and see how it throws its 
limbs in every direction ; it will raise its head from the 
place on which it lies, coil itself round, and grasping a 
foot with both hands thrust it into its mouth as far as 
possible, as though the great object of its existence at 
that moment was to turn itself inside out.” 

These apparently purposeless movements are the natural 
exercise of the young child; and our aim and object 
should be to afford its limbs free play for the performance ; 
to see that its little body is not too tightly swathed, and 
that the arms and legs are not weighed down with heavy 
cloaks or long clothes. The child should not be carried 
more than is absolutely necessary, but should be encou- 
raged to roll about and play with its imbs as much as 
possible. 

As the child gets older it will begin to attempt com- 
bined movements, at first crawling on “all fours,” and 
then, supporting itself against some object, learn to advance 
its legs and endeavour to balance itself. At this period of 
life the upper extremity of the body is considerably more 
developed than the lower, and consequently the latter 
has to sustain a disproportionate amount of weight ; it 
is therefore advisable that these first efforts should not 
be too prolonged. 

By the time the child is three years old systematie 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 39 


exercise should be commenced, and a degree of activity 
should be imparted to it by encouraging the child to run 
with a ball, and later on with a hoop, when out for its 
walks. At this age a rocking-horse is a useful adjunct in 
the nursery, and a moderate use of it, if stirrups are 
discarded, gives great employment to the muscles of the 
back and the abdomen. Care should, however, be be- 
stowed on the fitting of the saddle, which should not be 
too wide, else it may cause bowing of the thighs, nor too 
narrow, so that no great muscular exertion is required to 
grip with the knees. The same may be said when the 
rocking-horse is exchanged for the pony. If this point 
be attended to, and if riding be not the chief exercise 
taken, then the fear of its causing deformity of the lower 
limbs may be altogether dismissed. 

From five to eleven the child may participate in any 
active game which does not throw great strain on the 
joints; thus football or premature attempts to learn 
rowing should be prohibited. 

16. Exercise in Boyhood and Youth.—We have already 
stated our opinion (13) that no system of artificial exer- 
cises can replace the natural movements obtained by the 
pursuit of the,usual English pastimes of cricket, rowing, 
football, &c., for healthy lads. Still, gymnastics are useful 
substitutes when, from ill-health or other circumstances, 
natural exercise is not attainable. It ought, however, to 


40 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


be a recognised principle at our schools that gymnastics 
should never be allowed to curtail the hours of natural 
play. This caution is needed, as it is rather the fashion 
at the present-day to extol the German system of physical 
education in schools of a certain class. We frequently 
hear comparisons drawn between the upright carriage of 
the German youth and the slouch of the English school- 
boy; but critics forget that the slouch is almost a tra- 
ditional characteristic, and is no sign of languor, debility, 
or of slack muscles ; for the majority of English schoolboys 
can prove themselves, when roused into exertion, “as 
lithe as cats and as hardy as badgers.” Indeed, we believe 
in any contest requiring strength and endurance, the 
English schoolboy, weight for weight and age for age, 
would be more than a match for the continental youth 
trained on the artificial system. 

Whilst for healthy boys, as we have said, no restriction 
need be placed on the kind of natural exercise taken in 
the way of games, still consideration ought to be paid to 
the amount ; and this we are sure, in many schools, is in 
excess of what it should be. But a source of still greater 
mischief is the neglect of any classification of games at 
school, and allowing weak and strong to €ngage in them 
indiscriminately, to the detriment of the physical well- 
being of the more delicate. 

The study of the effect physical education and training 


EXERCISE. AND TRAINING. 41 


has on the development of youth is as yet very incom- 
plete ; and till frequent and systematic records are kept 
at all our large schools, noting the height, weight, rate of 
growth, chest increase, and general development of dif- 
ferent parts of the body of each boy, and the influence 
certain games have in promoting development of certain 
parts, any dogmatism on this subject must be founded 
on conjecture. Still, however, attention has been re- 
cently drawn to the subject in two excellent papers 
contributed to the St. George’s Hospital Reports of last 
year: one by Mr. Roberts, F:R.C.S., on ‘ The Physical 
Development and Proportions of the Human Body; the 
other by Mr. Street, F.R.C.S., entitled ‘ Notes on the 
Development and Growth of Boys between Thirteen 
and Twenty Years of age.’ Mr. Street has based his 
observations on the examination of 3,695 boys at ages 
ranging from thirteen to nineteen, during the last five 
years, with regard to height, weight, &c. Thus starting 
at thirteen years, the greatest number of boys examined 
were 55 inches high, which may be assumed to be the 
normal height for boys of this age. At fourteen, the 
majority of examinees indicated an increase of 1 inch in 
height during the year; whilst from fifteen to sixteen 
there was a marked growth to the extent of 3 inches, and 
from sixteen to seventeen a still greater increase, viz. 
4inches. The stature subsequently shows a slow increase, 


42 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


seventeen to eighteen giving 1 inch, and from eighteen to 
nineteen another inch ; whilst from nineteen to twenty 
there is hardly any increase at all. Mr. Roberts’ con- 
clusions are similar, though it will-be seen from the table 
on page 43, taken from his valuable paper, that the increase 
between thirteen and fourteen is not so small, nor the 
increase from fifteen to sixteen so great, as that noted by 
Mr. Street.* Still there is abundant evidence to show that 
development’ is most active from fifteen to seventeen, 
which, judging from Mr. Roberts’ table, manifests itself 
most strongly by increase in weight. ‘Thus it is evident 
that the period of a boy’s life between sixteen and seven- 
teen becomes one of great consequence to him ; and if 
he be at such a season subjected to great strain upon his 
strength, his development must suffer, perhaps his future 
growth interfered with, or the foundation laid of consti- 
tutional disease. 

From a consideration of these facts, incomplete as 
_ they as yet are, we cannot help regretting the extension 
of violent competitive exercise in the form of “ athletic 
sports” to our schools. It is not merely the evil caused 


* The differences between Mr. Roberts’ and Mr. Street’s obser- 
vations, with respect to increase in height, may be due to the dif- 
ferent class of society from which the boys were drawn. We 
believe that Mr. Street’s observations were made on boys drawn 
chiefly from the artisan class, candidates for Post Office appointments, 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 43 


TABLE I.—SHOWING THE AVERAGE PROPORTION AND GROWTH 
OF THE HUMAN Bopy FROM BIRTH TO MATURITY. 


Proportions of ati Increa 
Bae Bods tales o | Annual Rate of Growth, Rae Uaie 
wea = | & 
eee? 1 Faint, paar Weight. | Height. Prat Weight.| Height. aut Weight. 
Inches. Suches! lbs. Inches Tnches: Ibs. Inch. tnchies) lbs. 
Birth} <1). 19734) 13°25) 67-5512 AS ws | ae 
I year] 28°50; .. mae ty Oe EO os as ae 
2 years| 31°60) .. Sart tel Ou) oe. c o° ee He 
eee 35°00! a. Ai a ee i he as ae Ap 
Alem -35°45| 31°10) 3°45 ‘y ie Be a 
foe, ALIS) 21°20) 37791) 2°70 "e ie a ae 
Ge... 43°18 21°68) 40°67) 2°03} 0°42') 2°96 I OF20) 812AS 
7 9 45°15) 22°25) 44°00; 1°97 | 0°57 | 3°33 I 0°28 | 1°70 
o.. 40°92) 22°60). 47°15] 1°77, | 0°41 |- 3°15 I 0°31 | 1°80 
One,, 91 4052) 23°27| 51°20) 2°60.| O67 | 4°14 I 6°24 | 1°60 
Re ee este S2)023r771 55. 50): 2, 007.0501} 4°21 I O25 2410 
IL ,, | 52°37) 24°33) 60°15) 1°35 | 0°56 | 4°65 | I | O°41 | 3°44 
I2 ,, | 54°45} 24°81} 64°52) 1°58 | 0°48 | 4°37 | I | 0°30 | 2°76 
Bere | 50501. 20-30)" 71-00. 2°EI Ii r*49)) 5°48 I 0°70 | 2°60 
TA) gs | 59°55) 29°13). 79°57] 2°00 | 1°88 | 8°57 I 0°94 | 4°28 
oa '.e | OO277) 20770) 91°43), 2°21 |) £° 52: 11°86 I 0°68 | 5°36 
16 ,, | 63°42] 31°19 107°86] 2°65 | 1°49 [16°43 I 0°56 | 6°20 
17 5, | 64°95| 32°80/118°08| 1°53 | 1°71. [10°22 I I'1o | 6°67 
18 ,, | 65°69) 34°03 127°25) 1°74 | 1°23 | 9°17 I eA ol ee 
1G 45, | 6073719134" 76131 ° 48) 0°68 | 0°73. | 4°23 I o'Io | 6°22 
20 -,, | 66°80) \35°131135°28] 0°43 | 0°37 | 3°80 I 0°08 | o*90 
21 ,, | 66°89) \35°42,135°03] 0°00 | 0°29 | 0°00 oof O OOrt! OF 00 
22.5, | 06 88! 35°41,134°50| 0°00 | 0°00 | 0°00 0°00 | 0°00 
23 5, | 66°80) 35°45 134°08} 0°00 | 0°03 | 0°00 0°00 | 0°00 
24 ,, | 66°95] 35°43 133°26] 0°15 0°00 | 0°00 0°00 | 0°00 
25 to 30] 67°07} 35°48 135°00) O°I2 0°03 | 0'00 I 0°13 | 0'00 
BON, 50, OPTOF : ee: 738°33 ho ile ‘ oe ?. 


44 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


by the struggle of the day, but the strain of preparation 
carried on for weeks beforehand. Again, the boys are 
allowed to enter for far too many trials, whereby the 
mischief is greatly increased. A protest has been made 
by sportsmen who are not influenced by a spirit of mere 
‘gambling, against the training and racing of “ two-year- 
olds,” as having a tendency to produce subsequent un- 
soundness and general physical deterioration ; so would 
we raise a protest against overwork of any kind, whether 
physical or mental, at this most active developmental 
period of human life. “The age when such contests may 
be undertaken without risk is the period when the 
activity of growth becomes checked—the age, in fact, 
when most youths enter at the Universities, or begin to 
engage in the active duties of life.. Till then we would 
urge that the ordinary school games afford quite sufficient 
exercise for the growing lad. 

Before quitting this subject we would urge parents, 
before sending their boys to school, to have them care- 
fully examined by the, family medical attendant with 
reference to the condition of the heart and lungs, and to 
determine their freedom from any constitutional taint. 
If there should be any tendency to heart or lung disease, 
or should the existence of struma be suspected, it is 
evident that the boy should not engage in active games 
which would throw too much strain on weak organs. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 45 


It is in these instances that gymnasia prove useful, 
and give a delicate boy an opportunity for physical 
development that is not otherwise attainable. The 
establishment of ‘naturalist field clubs” at many of our 
public schools is a step in the right direction, by pro- 
viding a motive for exercise to those who are debarred 
by health from joining in the more active pursuits of 
the playground. 

17. Lxercise for Girls.—In these days, when so many 
women are engaging in intellectual pursuits of a high 
character, and even are desirous of competing with men 
in the cares and anxieties of professional life, the ques- 
tion of their physical training ought to receive more 
attention than it has hitherto done. In this respect girls 
stand at a great disadvantage as compared with boys. 
Up to a certain age, say eight or nine, a girl mixes often 
on equal terms with her brother in his sports ; indeed, 
not unfrequently excels him both in skill and spirit; but 
after that age healthy exercise is sacrificed to the bondage 
of genteel deportment. 

The growing child is confined in stays, and her feet 
crippled with tight boots. Anything like vigorous mus- 
cular movements are thus rendered impossible, and the 
sole exercise is the torpid regulation walk. Owing to 
this want of functional activity of the muscular system, 
the muscles dwindle and waste, and the nutrition of the 


46 ' EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


body becomes impaired. Many of the troubles women 
suffer from in later life are undoubtedly due to impaired 
muscular vigour, and much suffering would be spared if 
proper attention were paid in early life to their physical 
development by a course of systematic training. We do 
hot mean that our daughters should emulate their 
brothers in the cricket-field, or that female athleticism 
should become the vogue. But we would point out to 
parents and the managers of schools the danger entailed 
by the present neglect of exercise, and indicate the 
games that could be most easily adopted. ‘Thus fives, 
rackets, and lawn-tennis are games for which no great 
space is required; the latter game ought to be taught 
systematically, just as cricket is to boys at public schools. 
To play these games with safety, however, stays and 
tight boots must be altogether discarded. Swimming, 
too, ought to be taught at all girls’ schools, not merely 
because of the protection it affords, but also from its 
being in itself an admirable exercise, bringing into play 
all the muscles of the body. 

There are few exercises so useful for imparting a 
graceful carriage as*rowing, and it should be taught 
wherever opportunity affords. The strength imparted 
by the development of the muscles of the back would do 
away with the necessity of the artificial support of stays. 
Riding, too, is an excellent exercise. It ought, however, 


7 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 47 


to be used in moderation till growth has nearly ceased. 
The great difficulty, however, in providing suitable exer- 
cise for women is the expense necessarily attaching to 
its pursuit. It is impossible for ladies to practise in open 
playgrounds like men ; and even in gymnasia, or places 
set apart for them, the question of social disparity pre- 
vents the general adoption. It might, however, be 
possible for a few schools in large towns to unite in 
maintaining a joint establishment for the systematic 
teaching of swimming, rowing, lawn-tennis, and a few 
special gymnastic exercises. ‘This gymnasium might be 
open also to private families who might wish to send 
their girls who were being educated at home. Of 
course such institutions would have to be under the 
supervision of a responsible committee, or else the fate 
which has befallen skating rinks would speedily overtake 
them. 

18. Hxercise for Adult Life-—The sports of youth 
may, with the majority of men, be safely pursued up to 
the age of forty. At that age the period of middle life is 
entered upon, and changes begin to take place in the 
body which render it desirable that all exercise which 
throws great strain upon the heart and great vessels 
should be abandoned. Employments which require 
violent exertion for a short space of time should be ex- 
changed for more prolonged and slower work. Thus 


48 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


hunting, shooting, golf,* and fishing should replace row- 
ing, football, and Alpine climbing. 

Although violent exercise might be given up, still at no 
time during life is the necessity for exercise so imperative 
as between forty and fifty. It is generally at this period 
that in previously healthy men dyspeptic troubles begin 
to make their appearance. The toils, cares, and 
anxieties of life have commenced to tell on the vital 
power of the most robust. The circulation is not so 
vigorous, and as a consequence there is a tendency to 
passive congestion, especially in the organs of the ab- 
dominal viscera, The assimilation of food is not 
thoroughly performed, and there is a tendency toward 
“ functional derangements,” especially of the liver ; and a 
series of symptoms manifest themselves, of which the 
most common are :— 

(1.) ‘“‘A feeling of weight and fulness at the pit of the 
stomach and in the region of the liver, flatulent disten- 
sion of the stomach and bowels, heartburn, and acid 
eructation. 

(2.) “A feeling of oppression, and often of weariness 
and aching pains in the limbs. or of insurmountable 
sleepiness after meals. 

* Golf may be considered as the king of games for the middle- 


aged. Londoners ought to congratulate themselves on the success: 
ful introduction of this game to their suburban commons, 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 49 


(3.) ‘Troublesome spasmodic cough, with a secretion 
of viscid mucus from the back of the throat and nostrils. 

(4.) “ Restless disturbed sleep at nights, bad dreams, 
sometimes attacks of giddiness and dimness of sight, 
palpitation of the heart, and irregularity of the pulse.” 

Now generally these unpleasant, and, to most men, 
alarming symptoms, speedily disappear when muscular 
exercise in the open air is had recourse to. It is, indeed, 
a matter of common experience with most middle-aged 
men how beneficial is the effect of a single day’s hunting 
or shooting in clearing their complexion, and in ridding 
them of dyspeptic symptoms which they had been long 
combating before. 

If, however, exercise is not taken and these premoni- 
tory symptoms be disregarded, it is not long ere graver 
symptoms make their appearance in the form of gout, 
gravel, stone, and fatty degeneration. 

The products resulting from the disintegration of the 
food and tissues are not “ burnt up,” owing to the deficient 
supply of oxygen introduced into the body, and these 
accumulate in excess in the blood and tissues and form 
the materies morbi of the diseases above enumerated ; 
whilst the tissues themselves, clogged as it were by these 
products, are unable properly to fulfil their functions and 
undergo degenerative changes with extreme rapidity ; so 
that if the individual does not actually succumb to effects 


50 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


of induced disease, his life is shortened by an early 
entrance on the period of old age and decay. 

The plea offered by most men of middle age for not 
taking regular and systematic exercise is the want of time 
.. and opportunity. We believe this plea to be utterly ground- 
less. A brisk walk of three quarters of an hour before 
the business of the day, and half an hour at the end of the 
day, with a good stretch on Sunday afternoons some 
distance out of town, would be sufficient in most cases ; 
whilst this brief curtailment of business hours might be 
met by an earlier hour of rising and retiring to rest. 
The men who most frequently urge this plea of want 
of time seem to find no difficulty in spending an hour or 
two before dinner at their club, in whist, in billiards, or in 
the smoking-room ; and when taxed with this, and urged 
to employ this portion of the day in a “constitutional” 
round the park, plead the sense of fatigue and weariness 
induced by the labours of the day, forgetting that this 
sense of weariness is only subjective and speedily disap- 
pears after a few minutes of brisk exercise. Nor can 
the want of opportunity for exercise be urged with con- 
sistency in London or other large towns where the 
Saturday half-holiday is so universally recognised, and 
where the facilities for getting into the country by means 
of the numerous suburban railways, in a reasonable time, 
are so abundant. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. S51 


One caution, however, should be urged with respect 
to exercise taken at this period of life, viz. the inad- 
visability of passing at once from a state of comparative 
inactivity to arduous exertion. During active exercise 
the heart beats more vigorously (14), and more blood is 
consequently sent through the great vessels to the lungs 
and the body generally. When exercise is taken regu- 
larly, this strong action of the heart is met by a corre- 
sponding dilatation of the vessels, so that no blockage 
occurs to the onward flow of the blood; but when 
exercise is suddenly resumed after a period of pro- 
longed rest, this concordant action between the heart 
and blood-vessels is diminished and requires time for its 
perfect re-establishment. Consequently, on the resump- 
tion of strong exercise, there is more or less strain thrown 
on the cavities of the heart and walls of the arteries owing 
to the resistance of the onward passage of the blood, till 
the concordant action is thoroughly re-established. In 
youth, the strain thrown upon the heart and great vessels 
when passing suddenly from a state of inactivity to 
arduous exertion is little felt, the concordant compensa- 
tion generally taking place rapidly ;-but in middle-age, 
when degenerative changes have commenced to affect 
the structure of the heart and arteries, the danger is 
exceedingly great. The softened muscular wall of the 
heart, instead of overcoming the resistance offered to the 


52 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


onward flow of blood, yields slightly, and, its elasticity 
being impaired, does not recover itself. Every succeeding 
strain aggravates the mischief, till serious dilatation of the 
heart is the result ; or the sudden strain thrown on one 
of the great vessels of the chest may cause a bulging in 
its walls, and lay the foundation of the formidable dis- 
ease known as aneurism. 

19. Lxercise in Old Age.—After sixty years, the period 
of old age has fairly commenced for most men, and 
the necessity for vigorous exercise gradually declines. 
Indeed the change that occurs in the voluntary muscles 
and other organs of the body renders motion often 
extremely difficult, whilst the waning energies of the 
body ought to be carefully husbanded in order to main- 
tain the calorific processes by which the body is kept 
warm, and the force requisite to carry on the func- 
tions of digestion, assimilation, and circulation. ‘The 
muscles of voluntary motion steadily diminish in bulk, 
their fibres becoming less elastic and contractile, and re- 
sponding less readily to stimuli, and less under the control 
of volition, whilst the tendons and the sheaths are often 
ossified; all these changes tending to embarrass the 
movements more and more till actual decrepitude is 
arrived at. 

Although the necessity and desire for exercise thus 
gradually declines, still some measure of activity should be 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 53 


insisted on, else the period of decrepitude will be reached 
too soon. Every endeavour should be made to prevent 
the individual becoming bed-ridden. As long as the vital 
powers permit he should be dressed and moved into 
another room, and when the weather is sufficiently warm, 
gentle movement in a carriage or wheel-chair should be 
encouraged ; and even when the period of actual de- 
crepitude is reached and the exhaustion consequent on 
movement so great that removal from the bed becomes 
dangerous, a degree of functional activity may be im- 
parted to the muscles by gentle friction, and even by the 
occasional stimulus of a mild galvanic current. 


SECTION ITI. 
TRAINING. 


20. Object of Training.—Training is the art which 

9 Aa at bringing the body into the most perfect condition 
of health, making muscular action more vigorous and 
enduring, and increasing the breathing power. To use 

the words of the late Dr. Parkes,* “ Training is simply 

* “Manual of Hygiene.’ By Prof. E. A. Parkes. Fifth edition. 


Edited by Prof. du Chaumont. Chap. XII., sect. 3, ‘‘ Exercise 
and Training.” London: Churchill, 1878. 


54 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


another word for healthy and vigorous living.” The 
objects of training are obtained by the employment of 
a regimen, or system of diet, regular and systematic 
exercise, and a scrupulous attention to matters of per- 
sonal and general hygiene. These points will now be 
considered in detail. 


1. DIET OR REGIMEN IN TRAINING. 


21. Classification of Foods.—It has been stated (5) 
that every action of the living body is attended by 
chemical changes in the composition of its tissues, and 
that in these chemical changes a quantity of force is 
liberated, which, either in the form of heat, maintains the 
temperature, or, as motion, endues it with activity. 
The work done by the body is derived by burning the 
elements of the food, which is continuously being in- 
troduced into the body for the renewal of its tissues in 
the oxygen taken in at each inspiration. Naturally, 
when more work is done by the animal machine, more 
fuel is required ; the question, therefore, arises, in what 
manner this fuel can be best supplied, so that the greatest 
effective force-value can be obtained. 

All foods may be divided into four great classes. 


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The albuminous constituents alone contain nitrogen ; 
and as this element is found in every tissue of the body 
which manifests energy, the albuminates must be con- 
sidered as the essential elements of the food. Never- 
theless, taken alone, the albuminous constituents are 
highly uneconomical as foods: for it has been shown 
by experiment that a full-grown man requires about 
4,000 grains of carbon and 300 grains of nitrogen daily 
to supply the wants of the body. Now the proportion of 
carbon to nitrogen in albumen is about 53 of the former 
to 15 of the latter. In order, therefore, to get 4,000 
grains of carbon he must eat 7,500 grains of albumen; 
but 7,500 grains of albumen contain 1,100 grains of 
nitrogen, or four times more nitrogen than the body 
requires. 

Thus, as Professor Huxley* well puts it, “A man 
confined to a purely albuminous diet must eat a pro- 
digious quantity of it; this not only involves a great 
amount of physiological labour in comminuting the food, 
and a great expenditure of power and time in dissolving . 
and absorbing it, but throws a great quantity of wholly 
profitless labour upon those organs (the kidneys), which 
have to get rid of the nitrogenous matter, of which three- 
fourths is superfluous.” Moreover, the time occupied 


* ‘Lessons in Elementary Physiology.’ By Thomas H. Huxley, 
F.R.S. Tenth edition. Macmillan & Co. 1876. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 57 


_ In the process of assimilation and ELS is much 
greater than with other articles of ater > So. that: the body, 
when fed on albuminous conspituc uents, dither éntirely or 
out of due proportion, falls, @s Professor Huxley “pve 
observes, “into the condition fof the- merchant who has, 
abundant assets, but cannot BX in his debts in time to 
meet his creditors.” 


carbon is the escentual clement of fuel ; it is Se not 
surprising to find the oxidation of fat yields double the 
force-value of that given by the oxidation of an equal 
weight of either albumen or starch. Indeed, fat may be 
regarded as the storehouse of carbon, and one apparent 
advantage of its freedom from combination with other 
elements is that it is always ready for immediate service 
whenever the requirements of the system demand it. 
Fat also is essential to the growth and nutrition of the 
tissues ; a larger proportion of fat being met with 
wherever cell-growth is going on rapidly. Men cannot 
live in good health without fat, and when excessive bodily 
fatigue is undertaken a proportionate amount of fatty matter 
ought to be added to the dietary. 

The physiological action of the starchy principles of the 
food is less understood than in the two preceding groups. 


\, 
\% 


58 EXERCISE AND. TRAINING. 


In the body they are converted into sugar by a chemical 
change effected by the saliva in the mouth and the pan- 
creatic juice in the intestine. A large proportion of the 
starchy and saccharine elements of food are undoubtedly 
converted into fat in the body ; yet notwithstanding this, 
these elements do not seem capable of replacing fat as 
an article of food. Dr. Parkes* has well remarked, 
from a consideration of the diets used by all nations 
(except those, like the Esquimaux, who are under par- 
ticular conditions of food), that in no case do we find, 
where it can be obtained, an admixture of starchy 
food with fat omitted. It is therefore probable, that 
besides the conversion of starchy and saccharine matter 
into fat in the body, these principles also play an 
important part, not yet understood, in promoting nutri- 
tion, and are, therefore, essential elements to every 
dietary. 

The Lnorganic Constituents.—Of the uses of water in the 
economy it is superfluous to speak. The physical pro- 
perties of many tissues depend upon the water which is 
combined with them; whilst all the chemical processes 
going on in the body require the co-operation of water 
for their due performance, and the influence on nutrition 
and secretion is very marked. ‘The mineral constituents 
of the food are most important—by imparting strength 


* “Manual of Hygiene,’ p. 189. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 59 


_ and firmness to those textures which, like bone, cartilage 
and muscle, form the solid portion of the organism, and 
also in effecting chemical changes in the tissues and 
fluids. ‘The most important of these are: (a) chloride of 
Sodium, or common salt, which seems to exercise an 
important influence on the development and growth of 
the body ; the instinctive craving for this article of diet 
shows how important it is to the economy, for animals 
deprived of the use of salt speedily fall into bad con- 
dition, and will travel miles to obtain it; and certain 
African tribes, in districts where salt is scarce, will even 
barter gold for an equal weight of this commodity. 
(2) Phosphate of lime, or bone-earth, is the chief constituent 
of our bones, but is absent from no tissue, and is always 
more abundant in young and growing tissues. (c) A/kaline 
salts of soda and potash are required to maintain the 
necessary degree of alkalinity of the blood; they are 
chiefly derived from our fresh vegetable food, and when 
this is withheld for a considerable time a disease known 
as scurvy is induced—a disease characterised by extreme 
muscular debility. 

Accessory Articles of Diet.—These are tea, coffee, 
alcohol, &c. : these by their decomposition yield but little 
actual force; they have, however, considerable influence 
on nutrition, by preventing waste, &c.; physiologists 
therefore call them “ force regulators.” The part they 

P 7 


60 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


play will be considered when we treat of the actual diet 
in training. 7 

22. Digestion of Food.—Digestion is a process of solu- 
tion, by which the insoluble materials of the food are 
broken up by the mechanical action of the teeth and 
muscles of the stomach and intestines, and_ rendered 
soluble by the action of the secretion of the glandular 
organs attached to the alimentary canal. Thus, the saliva 
of the mouth and the juice of the pancreas convert the 
starch of such food as potatoes, rice, sagq, &c., into 
soluble sugar; the gastric juice attacks the meat, and 
converts its insoluble albumen into substances known as 
peptones, which have the power of passing (diffusing) 
through animal membranes. Fat, too, which we all know 
to be very insoluble in the presence of watery fluids, be- 
comes readily soluble when acted on by the alkaline 
secretions of the liver (dz/e) and pancreas. In fact these ~ 
alkaline secretions convert the fatty matter of the food 
into soap, just as the manufacturer, by boiling tallow with 
soda, forms that article. 

During digestion a considerable er nenthtare of force 
takes place in the performance of the mechanical act of 
breaking down the food, and the furnishing the secretion 
concerned in the digestive process. It is important, there- - 
fore, to diminish the mechanical labour by having the food 
properly cooked, and to see that the bodily powers are not 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 61 


exhausted by fatigue, and that no other work be under- 
taken till the active labour of digestion is completed. 
‘Lastly, as different glandular organs are set apart for the” 
digestion of each particular class of food, it is obvious 
that digestion will be best performed by giving each organ 
its proper share of work, by a judicious admixture of the 
various principles of diet, so as not to overburden any one 
particular organ. 

23. Construction of Dietaries.—We have stated (4) that 
the amount of work daily performed by an adult weighing 
150 lbs., under ordinary conditions, is about 3,400 foot- 
tons ; and we have also stated (21) that experiment has 
proved that a full-grown man requires about 4,000 grains 
of carbon and 300 grains of nitrogen daily to supply the 
wants of the body. In Table III., page 62, 1s a calculation 
of the amount of water, nitrogen, and carbon, and the 
energy developed by the burning in the body of one ounce 
of the chief articles of diet ; from a consideration of which 
we shall be better able to arrive at the-best arrangement 
of the various articles of diet, and the quantity of each 
that ought to be supplied in order to furnish the required 
force (3,400 foot-tons), and the 300 grains of nitrogen and 
4,000 grains of carbon. 

Now, supposing the staple articles of a dietary to con- 
sist of 1 lb. of lean (uncooked) meat, 24 oz. of bread, 1 oz. 
of butter, 12 oz. of potatoes, 1 oz. of sugar, and 3 oz. of 


62 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


TABLE III.*—SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF WATER, NITROGEN, 
CARBON, AND THE ENERGY DERIVED FROM AN OUNCE 
OF THE FOLLOWING SUBSTANCES :— “re 


Name of Substance. Water. Nitrogen Carbon. Energy. 
Grains, Grains. Grains. Foot-tons, 
Lean Beef" *.°:, 328 ike) 4 55 
[earth te 2 gach oe cena 324. 14 62 51 
Bread (crumb) . | 175 5 119 83 
Oatmeal. on.) 65 8 127 152 
POtAlOGS fe, tues 324 I 49 38 
Dried Bacon. . 65 6 273 291 
Butters \ 9, eee ee 26 o°2 315 280 
Mak 4 i. &,"s die 380 3 30 24 
sah te ies.) gad 22 
Egg {Paik ; ‘} 321 9 i { 127 
OUPal Sess Fee 13 os , 187 275 
TPABLE LV. 
j | | 
Substance.* Quantity. | Nitrogen. Carbon. | Energy. 
Oz. Grains. Grains. Foot-tons. 
Meat\s 2.16%: Se 16 160 1,024 880 
BYSA sre a Da Men van 120 1,676 1, 342 
Utter ee eee I O°2 315 280 
HOtatUSs tart 2 12 12 588 456 
COT tenis Aels I | se . 187 275 
Minicg ee bate es oo) | 9 90 72 
a) OLAL Sto opie ee 63 [30182 3,880 3,305 


| 
| 


* Constructed from Tables in Parkes’ ‘ Practical Hygiene.’ 


b EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 63 


milk—in fact, a fair instance of what is daily consumed 
by a healthy man doing a moderate amount of work. 

In Table IV. the amount of nitrogen is almost exactly 
supplied, whilst the carbon falls short of the requisite 
4,000 grains by 120 grains, and the energy by about 100 
foot-tons. It is obvious that, if half an ounce of butter 
or bacon were added to this dietary, the-deficiency in 
carbon and energy would be made up without adding to 
the nitrogen. 

24. Diet for Laborious Work.—The preceding table 
represents the diet necessary for a healthy man doing 
moderate work. When, however, the amount of exercise 
is greatly increased, more food is required in order to 
supply the requisite amount of force that the additional 
labour demands, as well as to repair the waste of the 
tissues consequent on increased action of respiration and 
circulation which additional muscular effort evokes. 

In convict prisons, men on hard labour receive 255 
grains of nitrogen and 5,289 grains of carbon; on this 
diet they lose weight, and have to be continuously shifted 
from heavy to lighter work. In the case of military 
prisoners at hard labour, 282 grains of nitrogen and 5,373 
grains of carbon are not sufficient to prevent men losing 
weight ; but with 300 grains of nitrogen, and about 5,300 
grains of carbon, the weight is stationary.- The old 
trainers increased the supply of food entirely in one direc- 


64 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


tion, viz. the albuminous constituents: thus Dr. Lyon 
Playfair (‘ Food of Man in Relation to his Useful 
Work’) gives the diet of the prize-fighter as containing 
690 grains of nitrogen and 4,366 grains of carbon—a 
wasteful and, as we have seen (21), compara ae in- 
effective diet. 

Talking of the work done on an average by Uniele | 
crews,-and the lesser amount performed by crews of 
College eights, as fair instances of severe and moderate 
training respectively, we should say, in the former case, 
450 grains of nitrogen and 5,300 grains of carbon, and in 
the latter, 380 grains of nitrogen and 4,600 grains of carbon 
would amply meet all the requirements of the body. As 
a rule, we may state that at present the dietaries of Col- 
lege crews are in excess of the work done, and a member 
of a “ torpid,” or a second or third division boat, thinks it 
his duty to copy—certainly in matters of diet—the Uni- 
versity oarsman, who probably does twice the amount of 
work. Of course no single standard will meet all cases, 
as individual conditions, as size,* digestive powers, &c., 
have to be taken into consideration. The following tables, 
however, will form a useful guide to trainers as to the 
relative quantities of the staple articles of diet that should 
be given daily. 

* Average weight of University crews may be taken as ranging 
between I1 and 12 stone ; of College crews, from Io to II stone. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 65 


TABLE V.—STAPLE ARTICLES OF DIET IN 


Severe Training. Moderate Training. 
\ | 
Substance. Quantity. | Nitrogen. Carbon. Quantity. Nitrogen. | Carbon. 
Oz. Grains. | Grains. Oz. | Grains. | Grains. 
Meat and 
Poultry* 24 240 |1,526 20 200 =|1,280 
read. a)". 24 520°. . 11,6706 24 120 |1,676 
Batter sue If 0°3 | 450 14 220 AGO 
Potatoes 8 8 392 Seri 8 392 
SuUpaArece lek ¢ FT = 187 I ne 187 
DEO is= so). 4 12 120 aoe 9 90 
Oatmeal 2 6 250 | 2 6 250 
Eggs 6 57 426 | 4 34 284 - 
Total .| 70k | 443°3 '5,027 || 638 | 377°3 |4,609 


~. The meat should be of the best quality, and should be 
thoroughly cooked. Underdone or overdone meat is 
indigestible. It should be either broiled or roasted. 
When the latter, care should be taken to keep the juices 
of the meat from running out. ‘This is effected as follows : 
Plunge the joint for ten minutes into boiling water. This 
hardens the outer surface of the joint, forming a slight out- 
side core that keeps the gravy inside ; then place the joint 


* Weighed raw and free from bone. About 1°8 oz. should be 
deducted from every 12 oz. of meat in deducting weight of bone in 
legs of mutton, sirloins of beef, and mutton chops. 


66 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


opposite a good clear fire, not too near, and roast slowly 
for three hours and a half; then, for the last half-hour, 
bring the joint quite close, so as to brown the outside. 
This is known as the s/ow process of cooking, and few 
cooks will adopt it, because it deprives them of a large 
quantity of dripping, one of their perquisites. Meat 
done by the s/ow process is quite red when cut into, 
from the contained gravy, but is not raw, as is shown by 
the meat losing the red colour when cold, the gravy 
having drained out by the cut surfaces. 

As the flesh of fowl contains nearly as much nitrogen 
and carbon as an equal weight of meat, and has nearly 
the same force-value, it is useful as a change of diet. 
Plain broiled chicken is a good breakfast dish, and roast 
fowl might replace beef and mutton for dinner at least 
twice in the week. 

The weight of dread is taken as baker’s weight, 2.2. 
when new. It should, however, be a day old before it 
is used. ‘The quantity given in the above tables is in 
excess of that usually allowed. It is strange how the 
prejudice which some trainers entertain for this article 
of diet, has arisen. It is eminently nutritious and 
digestible, and men do not tire of it. 

Butter, too, is another article against which a prejudice 
exists. We have seen (21) how essential fatty principles 
of the food are to nutrition, and the enormous amount of 


4 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 67 


force yielded by its combustion. * Where fat is well 
digested, it may be /vee/y given, even in excess of that 
stated in the above tables, which only represents the 
ordinary ‘‘ commons,” or “sizing” for butter at Oxford 
or Cambridge. In addition to this allowance of fatty 
matter, men who can digest it should be encouraged to 
eat the fat served with chops, steaks, and joints, and 
not to reject it, as is too commonly the case. When 
fat is not well digested, an additional quantity of oatmeal 
should be used, as porridge, made with szZ2, 

Potatoes contain (Table IV.) a very large proportion 
of water, and consequently very little nutriment in a 
large bulk; they cannot be omitted front a dietary, 
because they supply vegetable salts which are required 
to keep the body in health ; and as the potato is particu- 
larly rich in these, they are most economically adminis- 
tered in this article of diet. The potato, too, is very 
rich in starch, which is converted into sugar by the 
saliva and the pancreatic juice. If, however, a large 
quantity of potato is taken, some of the starch may 
escape conversion, and then it will decompose in the 
intestines and cause flatulence, ‘‘ internal fat.” We have 
known trainers who would not allow a crew to touch 
bread, except in the form of toast or crust, permit an 
almost unrestricted use of potato! 

Sigar is required for sweetening tea and jellies, and 


68 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


light puddings; it ‘should not fer se be used as an 
article of diet by adults, as it is liable to give rise to 
acidity, dyspepsia, heartburn, &c. 

Eggs are very useful and convenient articles of diet. 
An egg weighs about two ounces. The best way of 
cooking is “poaching.” One egg a day, at least, is to 
be used in making light farinaceous puddings. 

Other vegetable food beside potatoes are not men- 
tioned in the diet tables, as having little nutritive value. 
Their chief use is to ‘“ purify ” the blood by the supplying 
the alkaline salts. The best are watercress, beetroot, 
tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, baked apples, 
and oe pears. 

As yet no consideration has been paid to he im- 
portant question of the amount of fluid that should be 
taken in training. In ordinary conditions a healthy 
adult requires about 70 ounces (33 pints) of water for 
nutrition, about 20 ounces (1 pint) of which is intro- 
duced into the body with the food combined in the 
meat, bread, &c. (Table III.). The remainder is taken 
as liquid. In training there is an increased elimination 
of water by the skin and lungs; consequently there is 
an increased demand for it in the system. 

The amount, therefore, required in training may be 
placed at roo ounces (5 pints) in winter, and 120 ounces 
(6 pints) in summer. Of this about 12 pint will be 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 69 


taken in combined with the food. In the old system of 
training, the amount of fluid was rigidly limited, and 
rarely exceeded three pints. The fallacy of such restric- 
tion has been thoroughly exposed by Mr. MacLaren,* 
and now more liberal views are held by trainers with 
respect to the amount of fluid drunk. 

The two great points to remember are that fluid should 
not be drunk shortly before taking exercise, nor large 
quantities during or immediately after meals. 

The following table gives the approximate quantity 
and best time for taking fluids :-— 


TABLE VI. 
Onrising . . . . of pint of cold water. 
Breakfasts 2) oi 4.) S Od. “1,9. o' weal tea. 
Lunch or supper. . I », | Water or weak tea, 
Dinner ean », water or table ale. 
Twohourseafterdinner oF ,, weak tea. 
In porridge . . .: Of © ,,- milk or water. 


4? pints. 


This, with the 12 pint contained in the articles of diet, 
meat, bread, &c., makes 6 pints, an ample allowance. 
25. Accessory articles of Diet. —'These are tea and 


* ‘Training in Theory and Practice.’ By A. MacLaren. Lon- 
don: Macmillan, 1866, c 


-70 EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 


alcohol. ‘Their great duty is to prevent waste, and re- 
spectively to stimulate the nervous and circulatory 
systems. 

Tea is a decided stimulator of the nervous system ; 
perhaps, owing to the warmth of the infusion, there is 
increased action of the skin. Owing to its astringent 
qualities, it lessens the action of the bowels. Taken in 
large quantities, and in strong infusion, it is apt to cause 
dyspepsia and flatulence. In training it should be 
taken weak (two tea-spoonfuls of tea to a pint of boiling 
water). It should not be taken late at night, as it in- 
duces sleeplessness. A large breakfast cup of weak 
tea, taken fully two hours after a heavy meal, quickens 
digestion. 

A lcohol.—Opinions are divided as to the dietetic value 
of alcohol. Certainly in the form of wine and spirits it 
is absolutely unnecessary for young /eal/thy men. On 
this subject Dr. Parkes* says :—“ A small quantity of 
alcohol does not seem to produce much effect, but more 
than two fluid ounces manifestly lessens the power of 
sustained and strong muscular work. In the case of a 
man on whom I experimented, four fluid ounces of 
brandy (= 1°8 fluid ounces of absolute alcohol) did not 
apparently affect labour, though I cannot affirm it did 
not do so; but 4 ounces more, given after four hours, 


* ‘Manual of Hygiene,’ p. 381. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 71 


when there must have been some elimination, lessened 
muscular force; and a third 4 ounces, given four hours 
afterwards, entirely destroyed the power of work. The 
reason was twofold. There was, in the first place, zarcosts, 
blunting of the nervous system. ‘The will did not pro- 
perly send its commands to the muscles, or the muscles 
did not respond to the will ; and secondly, the action of 
the heart was too much increased, and induced palpita- 
tion and breathlessness, which put a stop tolabour. The 
inferences were that any amount of alcohol, though it 
- did not produce narcosis, would act injuriously by in- 
creasing unnecessarily the action of the heart, which 
labour alone had sufficiently augmented. I believe these 
experiments are in accord with common experience, 
which shows that men engaged in any hard labour, as 
iron-puddlers, glass-blowers, navvies on piece-work, and 
prize-fighters during training, do their work more easily 
without alcohol.” We quite agree with these remarks, and 
we think the routine practice of giving two glasses of port 
wine or claret to men 7 ¢raining after dinner not only 
unnecessary, but in many cases positively injurious. 
This consideration does not apply to the use of light 
table ales, which contain only a very small quantity of 
alcohol (about three-quarters of an ounce to a pint). The 
men being accustomed to these would feel their with- 
drawal, whilst the quantity of alcohol in that diluted form 


- 


72 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


is quite insignificant. The quantity of beer, however, 
should not exceed 14 pint daily, as, containing a con- 
siderable amount of sugar, it is apt to cause dyspepsia 
and flatulence if taken in large quantities. The use of 
wine should, in our opinion, be restricted to “training 
off,’ when men, from over-fatigue, lose their relish for 
food and begin to fall in weight. ‘Then a glass of sherry, 
with an equal quantity of water, taken at the commence- 
ment of dinner, will have a wonderful restorative effect on 
the digestive powers. 


2. PERSONAL AND GENERAL HYGIENE. 


26. Aest—Our whole. life, says Dr. Poore,* ‘‘ consists 
in a series of vibrations, periods of tension alternating 
with periods of relaxation; and although the rapidity of 
these vibrations varies immensely, they are recognisable 
in all our acts, be they voluntary or involuntary.” Thus, 
taking the heart, which is ceaselessly vibrating indepen- 
dently of our control, we find that each vibration (taking 
the rate of vibration at 72 to the minute), if divided into 
ten parts, gives four of these parts for ¢Ae systole, vigorous 
contraction, hard labour; three are occupied by the 


* ©Text-book of Electricity in Medicine and Surgery.’ By 
G. Vivian Poore, M.D. London, F.R.C.P. London: Smith, 
Elder & Co. 1876. 


* 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 73 


diastole, the period of recoil, which, although hardly work, 
is an exercise of function; during the remaining three 
there is absolute rest. 

Dr. Poore suggests that we may apply the lesson 
taught by the vibration of this organ, whose periods of 
active labour, functional exercise, and rest have been 
regulated for it, to the habits of our daily life. ‘If we 
divide,” he says, ‘‘ the day of twenty-four hours in ten 
equal parts, and give four of these to active work, three 
to functional exercises of other kinds, and three to sleep, 
we shall find that nine hours and a half work, seven and 
a quarter’s relaxation, and seven and a quarter hours’ 
sleep is what a normal man may, and as a rule does, 
perform without injury to himself.” 

This statement of what is the physiological require- 
ment for sleep is in accordance with the practical ex- 
perience of Mr. MacLaren,* who says :—‘“It must, I 
think, be viewed as one of the errors of training tactics 
that men are encouraged to take too much sleep; at any 
rate, to spend too much time in bed. What requirement 
can young men, in undergoing such bodily exertion as 
present training practice involves, have for ten or eleven 
hours’ sleep? What need to spend nearly half their 
time in bed? In this, as in most things, some men will — 
require more than others, but, speaking generally, seven 


* ‘Training in Theory and Practice,’ p. 124. 


74 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


hours wilt be found abundant at this time of life. To 
sustain the body in full vigour, if a man goes to bed at 
eleven o’clock he ought to be out of it at six.” 

In addition to the rest obtained during the period 
allotted for sleep, at measure of rest should be taken 
after exercise, so that fatigue induced by muscular exer- 
tion be fully recovered from before fresh work is under- 
taken by the body. A period of rest should certainly 
intervene between the strong exercise of the day and the 
principal meal. Yet how rarely is this allowed, and 
men hurry up from the boats or from a long walk and sit 
down at once to food, whilst the bodily powers are jaded 
and the digestive powers are depressed. 

Every endeavour ought to be made to ensure perfect 
mental quietude whilst in a state of trainmg. We know 
that horses in training are extremely susceptible of ex- 
ternal influences ; the change of stables, of water, or the 
absence of a stable companion, often causing a horse to 
train off. Wecan therefore understand the effect dis- 
couraging criticism has on a crew. Menwho are anxious 
and worried will quickly fall out of condition, because 
these disturbing influences interfere with the processes 
by which the nutrition of the muscular and nervous 
systems are carried on. Under the old plan of training, 
every effort was made to keep the crew as quiet as pos- 
sible, and in ignorance of the progress they were making, 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 75 


ane the time of the trials was only known to the 

“captain” and the “coach,” a little extrapraise | from-the 
latter being the only encouragement 
vantage of this plan is obvious; i 
becoming careless, from counting to 
whilst it prevented the demoralizati 
ances always entail.  } 

ears Bathing. — The habit of daily “pathing in cold’ 


ept ay crew from» 


—— 


that bad perform- 


nothing to recommend the practice to healthy men. 
The best time for the cold bath is undoubtedly on first 
rising, when its influence on the nervous and circulatory 
systems is most powerful. It is a question whether it 
may be repeated during the day—after exercise. Con- 
sidering the powerful physiological action of the bath, 
we doubt whether a second complete immersion is advis- 
able at a time when the bodily powers are depressed ; 
and we think a rub down with a cold, wet sponge quite 
sufficient. ‘The cold bath ought Aye to be followed 
by vigorous rubbing with a dry towel, to promote re- 
action, and to remove scales of dead skin and the pro- 
ducts of its secretion, which by clogging the pores 
prevents its free action. 

The occasional use of the warm bath, with plenty of 
soap, is advised, in order the more thoroughly to remove 
the accumulation of secretions at the mouth of the sweat 

6 


(ens “The ad 
k 


much« ‘or’ ‘fast trials, es 


76 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


ducts or pores. The best time for the warm bath is the 
last thing at night. 

28. Sweating—Whith the impression that accumulation 
of fat could be speedily removed by sweating, the old 
trainers used to promote vigorous action of the skin and 
induce profuse perspirations. Such unnatural excite- 
ment of the skin could not, however, last long, and the 
endeavour to force it only led to the function being 
gradually weakened. The practice was founded on 
physiological error ; for accumulations of fat only occur 
in the body in health when the gaz to the body is in 
excess of the waste, And it can only be removed by 
burning it off, by increasing the oxidizing action going 
on within the body. The products of this burning are 
carbonic acid and water; of which nine parts of the 
former pass off by the lungs, and one part only is 
eliminated by the skin, whilst the kidneys, in the form 
of urine, carry off three times as much water as is 
removed in the form of sweat. 

Now, when increased natural exercise is taken, all 
three channels—the skin, the lungs, and the kidneys—are 
proportionately engaged in getting rid of this effete car- 
bonic acid and water. But when the skin is unduly 
stimulated, it is generally at the expense of the other two 
functions. A man who is taking exercise swathed in 
thick flarinels has his breathing power embarrassed, and 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 77 


‘consequently does not get rid of so much carbonic acid 
by the lungs as he otherwise would; and as the skin 
only eliminates a very small quantity of carbonic acid, 
the increased activity of its function does not compensate 
for the diminished exhalation by the lungs. Again, the 
kidneys are the chief channel for the elimination of 
water, and any great withdrawal of this substance from 
them impairs their functional activity.* It frequently 
happens, however, that a man who has been leading a 
sedentary life for some time, and is generally out of 
condition, finds on first going into training that the skin 
does not possess its healthy activity, and that with 
increased exercise the skin remains dry and_ harsh. 
Instead, however, of resorting to violent measures, he 
will find that the warm bath, with plenty of soap, fol- 
lowed by the cold douche and vigorous “ towelling,” will 
do more towards restoring a natural skin action than any 
amount of sweating under blankets in a hot room, or 
exercise on a hot day with the traditional great coat. 

29. Bowels.—Constipation is often a serious difficulty 
with men in training. The increased quantity of food, 


* In health the great object is to give each organ its proper and 
proportionate share of work. In disease, however, the physician 
often seeks to relieve and rest a weak and disordered organ by 
stimulating those that are sound to increased activity, and thus de 
the duty of the enfeebled member. 


78 EXERCISE AND, TRAINING. 


and consequently the larger amount of undigested residue 
left in the intestinal canal, together with the drier nature 
of the food on the one hand, and the increased with- 
drawal of water from the system by the skin and kidneys 
on the other, seem to be the chief factors concerned in 
producing this condition. : 

The bowels not only should be open once a day, but 
care should be taken to see that the evacuation is com- 
plete; that is, that the whole fecal matter has been got 
rid of. For the detention of the intestinal contents leads 
to serious discomfort, and interferes materially with 
digestion. 

In the first place, the result of their decomposition 
gives rise to flatulence, or distension of the bowels with 
wind ; and these, by pressing upwards, prevent the proper 
expansion of the lungs, and thus diminishes the breathing 
power. The ‘internal fat,” the bugbear of trainers, is, 
in the majority of cases, nothing but this flatulent disten- 
sion, ‘‘wind in the wrong place,” and would easily be 
put right by the administration of half a tumbler of 
Friedrichshall or Pulna water. Secondly, the putrid — 
products arising from decomposition are absorbed into 
the blood, giving rise to a great disturbance of health, 
and often induce great irritation of the mucous membrane 
of the bowel, and set up diarrhcea. 

30. Zobacco.—Most trainers rigidly prohibit the use of 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 79 


this article, and, where smoking has not become an 
inveterate habit, they.are quite right. It diminishes the 
elimination of carbonic acid, and thus interferes with the 
respiratory power. It also checks the natural waste of the 
body. It is therefore of use when great fatigue is under- 
gone, and the amount of food is limited. When, however, 
the supply of food is abundant, there is no need for it. 
When smoking, however, has become an inveterate habit, 
the struggle to give it up often produces great depression, 
and thus interferes materially with the process of training, 
and the trainer may feel disposed to break a wholesome 
rule, and allow it in great moderation. In selecting a 
crew, however, unless the smoker is an exceptionally 
good man, and his services indispensable, such indulgence 
should not be permitted ; for, when the habit has become 
inveterate, there is generally considerable impairment of 
muscular and nervous energy, and also dyspeptic trouble. 

31. “ Training off.’—When a man becomes “stale,” it 
is obvious that he has departed from that condition of 
“healthy and vigorous living” which it is the great object 
of training to promote. ‘The causes of “ training off” are 
various. It may be from over-work, over-anxiety, some 
derangement of digestion, ill-health arising from some 
external cause difficult to ascertain—a not infrequent one 
being a dose of sewage gas, or sewer-polluted water, taken 
inadvertently at some river-side training quarter. Or it 


80 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


may be the result of a break-down of the constitution, 
some hitherto latent taint manifesting itself under the 
strain of unwonted pressure. The symptoms are generally 
apparent. ‘The man begins to lose weight; has a dis- 
relish for food; feels languid after exercise, and does not 
recover his spirits or elasticity ; does his work carelessly, 
is inattentive, and is restless and sleepless at nights, These 
are the less serious symptoms, which perhaps a little 
proper management and care may soon put right. If, 
however, it is associated with much distress during the 
actual performance of the daily work, and there is also 
some degree (however slight) of breathlessness, and an 
intermittent action of the heart, ‘training off” assumes 
a serious aspect. The proper course to pursue, in all cases 
when a man becomes “stale,” is to consult a physician 
in order to determine the exact nature of the break-down. 
There can be no object in patching up a man who will 
fail when the pinch comes in the race itself; whilst if the 
staleness be due to any organic mischief, a continuance of 
work in any form would be highly injurious. And lastly, 
it would be unjust to turn off a good man who was merely 
suffering from temporary indisposition, which a timely 
rest and a little judicious advice about diet might speedily 
put right. A physician alone can decide on these points, 
and indicate the proper course to be pursued under the 
circumstances. Che 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. SI 


32. General Hygiene-—Under this head is included 
questions of drainage, ventilation,* water-supply, &c. ; but 
as one of the series of ‘‘ Health Primers” is devoted to 
the consideration of this important subject, we refer the 
reader to its pages. 


3. AMOUNT OF EXERCISE, 


33. Lhe daily work that ought to be performed during 
a course of training will depend materially on the con- 
ditions of the race for which preparation is being made. 
Thus men preparing for College races of little more than 
a mile will not undergo the severe preparation that is requi- 
site for a crew intending to compete over the University 
course of rather more than four miles and a half. Jn 
judging of the amount of work necessary to be accom- 
plished attention must be given to two important elements, 


* We would remark here, however, that the condition of the 
bedrooms at our Universities, with respect to ventilation, are dis- 
graceful, being mostly small cupboards, averaging barely 250 feet 
in cubic capacity, without chimneys! ‘The occupants, however, may 
do something towards remedying this unwholesome arrangement. © 
As long as the two Universities entrust the sanitary management 
of the colleges and lodgings to clrgymen, utterly untrained for 
such duties, it is too much to expect the authorities to see the 
necessity for or undertake the much-needed reform at their own 
expense. 


82 EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 


muscular power and breathing power. For it is quite 
possible, as Mr. MacLaren* has pointed out, that a 
“‘man of good physical capacity may be trained so- that 
the voluntary muscles of his arms and chest would be 
powerfully developed, with a contractile force propor- 
tionate to their size ; and yet his respiratory power shall 
be so disproportionate that he could not run a hundred 
yards without gasping; and another, or the same indi- 
vidual, if possessing ordinary locomotive capacity and 
fair development, may be trained to run ten times the 
distance without distress, but the voluntary muscles of 
whose arms and chest shall remain as they, stood at the 
time that the training began.” 

The tendency of modern athleticism has certainly been 
towards throwing greater stress on the respiratory powers, 
without a corresponding increase of muscular exertion. 
Indeed, as far as rowing is concerned, all. the improve- 
ments in racing boats, the outrigger and the sliding-seat, 
have tended to diminish muscular effort and increase the 
rapidity of the stroke. 

On this point Mr. MacMichael,f a distinguished Cam- 
bridge oarsman, bears most important testimony :— 


* “Training in Theory and Practice,’ p. 36. 

t ‘The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races.’ By W. F. 
MacMichael, B.A., late Secretary of the Cambridge University Boat 
Club. 1870. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 83 


“‘ What strikes me most forcibly, in reading the accounts 
of what University crews used to do in former days, is 
the much greater amount of hard work they did than we 
do now.” Mr. MacLaren’s evidence on this point is 
also very decisive :—‘‘ The exercise in rowing a College 
race (a short mile) is barely sufficient to keep a healthy 
man well ; it is not sufficient to keep up the condition of 
a strong one. The best men fall off when racing, or the 
exclusive training exercise for the racing, begins; under 
it powerful men dwindle: and this not from ‘ training 
down,’ as the phrase goes, for the reduction is not in 
weight only, but in girth and tension and contractility 
of muscle, and in the stamina which gives endurance of 
fatigue.” 

Taking rowing, then, as the typical exercise on 
which our remarks on training have been founded, let 
us consider the amount of work, muscular and respiratory, 
that ought to be accomplished in order to develop both 
powers to the fullest extent. 

34. Muscular Work.—We have seen (4) that, from 
calculations made by different observers, the amount of 
force daily expended by an adult weighing 150 lbs. in 
the performance of the internal, calorific, and external 
mechanical work of the body, has been estimated at 
about 3,400 foot-tons, or, in other words, in the expendi- 
ture of force requisite to lift 3,400 tons one foot high, 


84 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


Of these 3,400 foot-tons, about 300 are expended in the 
ordinary external mechanical work of the body, muscular 
work, And we also saw that estimates had been made 
of the amount of work a man weighing 150 lbs. could 
accomplish in a given time with different kinds of 
exercise, thus :— 


: Foot-tons. Authority. 
Rowing one mile at racing speed = 18°56 MacLaren. 
Walking one milésyy. 49 4) _iherk7 707 Parkes. 


From these data it is easy to arrive at an approximate 
idea of the amount of work actually performed by men in 
training on any given day. Mr. MacLaren tells us that 
at Oxford the training practice, allowing for the difference 
of some Colleges when a short run is preferred to the 
morning walk, is as follows :— 


Walking.*—One mile, averaging four miles 
Bvh OUT As in eet ae ee ees ees ook TS OTT nee 
Rowing.—Twice over the course and back, 
_ part of the distance at racing speed, part 
at two-thirds speed, and part at half 
speed. Whole distance, say five miles at 
One Mule in Wingunimtes =. Ge cs ee ee 


* Mr. MacLaren, ‘ Training in Theory and Practice,’ p. 55. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 85 


The period of training lasts about three weeks ; once 
or twice during this period the crew are taken for a long 
row (seven miles) to Nuneham. 

At Cambridge the plan is very similar, only the course 
being further away from home than is the case at Oxford, 
the distance rowed each day is slightly longer—the dis- 
tance being from Jesus Sluice (near the boat-houses) to 
Bait’s-bite, 3 miles 3 furlongs 22 yards. As the boats do 
not start actually from Jesus Sluice, nor row quite to 
Bait’s-bite lock, allowance must be made at each end ; so 
that probably, allowing for the different turning-points 
adopted by the various Colleges, the average daily row at 
Cambridge may be considered as six miles. Their time 
per mile, however, is rather slower than it is at 
Oxford, owing to the narrowness of the river, causing 
repeated “‘easies” on the journey down to the locks. 
Of the six miles, one-fourth of the course is rowed at 
racing speed, the remainder at three-quarter speed and 
paddling. 

In these calculations, no allowance has been made for 
the exertion taken in the ordinary business of the day— 
the walking to the boats, to and from College ‘class- 
rooms, general “loafing,” &c. This kind of work may 
be safely estimated as not likely to exceed four miles 
a day. 

Thus we have, then, five miles’ pedestrian exercise, and 


bt eisai EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


six miles’ rowing, as the external mechanical work done 
on an average by men in training for College races. 
Foot-tons. 
Five miles’ walking (17°67 x 5) = 88°35 
Six miles’ rowing (18°56 x 6) = 111°36 


199°71 


This amount of 199°71 foot-tons unfavourably com- 
pares with the 300 foot-tons, the average work of a 
strong healthy man, engaged in ordinary manual labour, 
and is little above the minimum allowance of 150 foot- 
tons which Professor Parkes considers that every healthy 
man ought to take in some way as exercise every day.* 


* Professor du Chaumont, of Netley, has given some interesting 
particulars of the work. done in India by natives. (1) Thus a hill 
coolie will go thirty miles, with an ascent of 5,500 feet, in three days, 
carrying 80 lb. weight, the weight carried on a frame supported on 
the loins and sacrum,and aided by a band passed round the forehead 
—work per diem, 500 tons lifted 1 foot. (2).Eight palanquin-bearers 
carried an officer weighing 180 lb., and the palanquin weighing 
250 lb., twenty-five miles in Lower Bengal; assuming each man 
weighed 150 lb., the work was 600 foot-tons. Lastly, the work 
done by the sledge parties in the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6 has 
been calculated by Professor du Chaumont, as for the northern 
party (Markham’s), at a daily mean of 574 foot-tons per man, with 
amaximum of 859! ‘The western party (Aldrich’s) did a mean of 
443, and a maximum of over 600. Even this large amount was con- 
sidered an under-estimate by the commander, 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 87 


Certainly, as far as muscular work is concerned, mem- 
bers of College crews are not overtaxed.* 

35. Respiratory work, or Breathing Power.—The act of 
breathing consists of the alternate expansion and con- 
traction of the walls of the chest, by which air is alter- 
nately drawn into and expelled from its interior. This 
action is carried on by two forces: (a) the elasticity of 
the lungs themselves; (4) by the exercise of certain 
muscles, the zx¢ercostals and the diaphragm.} Inspiration is 
effected by enlarging the chest in all its diameters. Thus, 
the diaphragm by its contraction enlarges it in its vertical 
diameter, or depth, whilst the action of the external inter- 
costals, by raising the ribs, enlarges it in width. In 
extraordinary or forced inspiration, as in violent exer- 
cise, other ‘muscles are called into service, the chief of 
which are the serratus magnus, pectorales, and trapezius 
muscles, which we have seen (12) are also employed in 
drawing the arms forwards and backwards from the 
trunk. Lxfiration.—The enlargement produced by in- 


* “Manual of Hygiene,’ pp. 420-422. 

¢ The zztercostals are the muscles between each rib-—the external 
and internal. In the former the fibres run obliquely downwards 
and forwards, and draw the ribs up. In the latter the fibres are 
downwards and backwards, and draw the ribs down. The diaphragm 
is a large flat muscle, which serves as the partition between the 
chest and abdomen. When it contracts, it pushes down the ab- 
dominal viscera, and thus enlarges the chest cavity. 


88 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


spiration is recovered from by the elastic recoil of the 
lungs, and little or no muscular power is required when 
the breathing is quiet ; but when hurried and forced, the 
internal intercostals, by pulling down the ribs, aid the 
lungs by diminishing the cavity of the chest.* 

The quantity of air changed in the lungs in each act 
of ordinary breathing is, in healthy adults, about 30 to 
35 cubic inches. The number of respirations such 4 
man would make in a minute ranges from 14 to 18. 
In health the proportion of breathing to the rapidity 
of the pulse is as 1 to 4; the respiration being 18, the 
pulse, under normal circumstances, will be 72 per minute. 
According to Dr. Haughton, the work done by the 
respiratory muscles, under ordinary circumstances, in the 
twenty-four hours amounts to 21 foot-tons, — 


* The following table, drawn up by Mr. Hutchinson, shows the 
relative power of the inspiratory and expiratory muscles in ordinary 
and extraordinary respiration :— 


Power of Power of 
* Inspiratory Muscles. Expiratory Muscles. 
135 ie a ee Weak: brealnin co eae a ees 
2°0 Ordinary . PB ir a 
2°5 Strong a5 
205 Josiah ah Gh Very stgongix ou oes eA os 
AB 20h att of) “Remarkable! aff sront Doe Sygee 
55 Nety remarkablés sc... vc] 23 4740 
670545 nisi aug hixtraprdinary 20, oo pot saeoes 
7°O Very extraordinary . . . 10°O 


(Kitlets : Phasiolody by Morrant Baker.) 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 89 


_ With vigorous exercise there is increased activity of the 
respiratory process. The number of respirations is greatly 
increased, at the same time the heart’s action becomes more 
frequent. In rowing, for instance, at a stroke of 37 per 
minute, the respirations will be increased from 18 to 35 or 
40, and the pulse from 72 to 110 or 120 a minute. At the 
same time the quantity of carbonic acid discharged from the 
lungs is greatly augmented (14). 

Now, it is very evident that such important organs can- 
not pass from a condition of comparative quietude to such 
intense rapidity of action without having an immense strain 
thrown on them. And _ this is what really does occur in 
training. Nearly all the distress experienced by men after a 
severe race, or in the earlier periods of training, when un- 
dertaking quick work before the concordant action between 
the heart and the blood-vessels, is due to the embarrassment 
of the lungs, and not to muscular fatigue. As we have 
seen (34), the work done by the muscles during an ordi- 
nary race is anything but severe; while the effect on the 
circulation and respiration, as evidenced by the gasping, 
shallow respiration, and rapid, irregular pulse that follows 
violent and injudicious exertions before the body is pro- 
perly accustomed, is enormous. These facts lead us to the 
following conclusions, which may be thus briefly summa- 
rised :— 

(a) That the chief object of the work in training is to 


go EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


establish a reciprocal action between the heart and lungs, 
so-that the increased supply of blood sent to the lungs 
by the heart may pass through them freely; that there 
should be no blockage, and consequently no strain.* 

(4) This reciprocal action will be best attained by 
gradually increasing the respiratory work, otherwise the 
immediate effect of fast exercise being to cause aug- 
mented action of the heart, the increased amount of 
blood sent to the lungs will cause embarrassment to the 
respiration, a checking of the flow of blood through them. 
This causes more violent breathing efforts, which may 
lead to expansion of the air-vesicles of the lungs (emphy- 
sema), or dilatation of the heart. - 

(c) The action of the lungs and circulation should 
be carefully watched during training. If the breathing 
becomes laborious, especially sighing, and the pulse ex- 
ceeds 120-130 and becomes irregular, the training 
should not be persisted in. If trainers paid a little more 
attention to these points, failures at a late period of 
training would not be so frequent, inefficient men being 
eliminated at an early period. 

36. Fatigue. Our observations on muscular and re- 
spiratory work would not be complete without some 
reference to the condition known as fatigue; the more 


* All races, such as ‘‘ scratch pairs,” rowed by untrained persons, 
are for this reason positively dangerous, and ought to be discouraged. 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. “gt 


| 


so as this condition has recently received considerable 
attention from physicians, and the existence of a number 
of distinct affections known as ‘‘ fatigue diseases” are 
now recognised. For this purpose we cannot do better 
than summarise the excellent description given by Dr. 
Poore,* who has thoroughly studied this subject. Work, 
he says, results in fatigue, and fatigue is a regular and 
constantly recurring symptom experienced by us all. 
As our life consists of a series of vibrations—periods of 
tension alternating with periods of relaxation—therefore 
periods of functional activity invariably alternate with 
periods of repose, during which the waste caused by the 
exercise of function is repaired. Fatigue occurs directly 
we attempt to alter the rhythm of our vital vibrations by 
prolonging the periods of tension at the expense of the 
period of relaxation. Fatigue may be local or general, 
and both forms may be either acute or chronic. 

Local fatigue is caused sooner by prolonged and sus- 
tained muscular effort than by repetitions of short mus- 
cular contraction having due intervals of relaxation 
between them. Thus we find it difficult to hold a weight 
at arm’s length, or standing in one position more tiring 
than moving the same weight frequently, or by the alter- 


* *A Text-book of Electricity in Medicine and Surgery.’ By 
G. Vivian Poore, M.D. London, Assistant Physician Vay 
College. Eonar: 1878, 

q 


2, 


g2 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


nate action of the limbs in walking. The symptoms of 
local fatigue are a Joss of power, the irritability of the 
‘muscular tissue becomes exhausted, the force of its con- 
traction is lessened. 

Tremor is another symptom of muscular exhaustion, 
and is generally noticeable after an unwonted muscular 
effort. It is characterised by a peculiar jerking of the 
muscles throughout the body, which gives uncertainty to 
all muscular movements. The effect of cramp as the 
result of fatigue is familiar to most of us. It may come 
on during actual exercise, or some hours after. 

The symptoms of general fatigue are mostly those of 
nervous exhaustion, and consequently we find there is a 
disability for performing either mental or physical work, 
especially that requiring sustained effort or attention. 

The acute forms of local or general fatigue are usually 
recovered from without leaving traces of injurious effect 
behind them. When, however, fatigue is frequently in- 
duced, it is a common cause of many of those chronic 
maladies which are characterised by irregular muscular 
action. But it must not be forgotten that fatigue, in all 
its forms, is preceded by impaired nutrition, and this im- 
pairment of nutrition has to be recovered from before 
functional activity can be restored to its pristine vigour. 
Trainers should therefore be careful to avoid fatiguing 
the men under their care, for one day of overwork has 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 93 


probably to be followed by days of rest or of inefficient 
work. Recognising also the fact that monotonous re- 
petition of the same act is one of the most potent causes 
of fatigue, trainers should endeavour to get the greatest 
amount of work out of their men by a constant variety of 
exercise. 

37. General Conclusions—We have now passed in 
review the means by which the trainer brings the body 
into the most perfect condition of health, making mus- 
cular action more vigorous and enduring, increasing at 
the same time the breathing power. We will now en- 
deavour to systematize our remarks by drawing a plan on 
which a day’s training should be conducted. 

Rise about 6°30 A.M. in summer, and at 7 A.M. in 
winter. 

The Bath.—-\mmediately on rising use the cold bath. 
This in summer is best in the form of a douche or 
shower. In the winter the sponge is sufficient. When 
the weather is very cold, the water should be placed in 
the bath overnight, so that the temperature is not exactly 
ice cold. 

Morning Exercise—At 7 A.M. in summer, and 7°30 
in winter, start for a brisk walk of two miles, with occa- 
sional quick runs, which may be lengthened as the 
“breathing power” becomes developed. 

Breakfast.—At 8 o'clock breakfast, which should con- 


94 EXERCISE AND TRAINING, 


sist of a chop or steak (4 1b.) broiled, a poached egg, a 
couple of cups of weak tea, or, if preferred, cocoa made 
from nibs, with plenty of milk; stale bread (brown re- 
commended, if troubled with constipation) and water- 
cresses. Broiled fish or chicken may occasionally be 
substituted for meat as a change, when men are beginning 
to weary of an exclusively flesh diet. 

After Breakfast.—Generally, from 9 to 12, men are 
engaged in their ordinary pursuits. From 12 to 1, how- 
ever, if the time can be spared, may be profitably spent 
in the gymnasium. We have already seen (34) that 
certainly, as far as muscular work is concerned, members 
of College crews are not overtaxed. Besides, as the chief 
work they do is thrown on the trunk and lower limbs, 
it is advisable to bring into play other groups of muscles ; 
for by so doing one of the most potent causes of fatigue, 
the monotonous repetition of the same act, is avoided, 
and the trainer is able to get a greater amount of work 
from his men by thus_varying the.exercise.. Nor should 
Dr. Parkes’ statement—(14), that when a single muscle, 
or group of muscles, is exercised to too great extent, 
these, after growing to a great size, commence to waste ; 
this does not seem to be the case when all the muscles are 
exercisea—be forgotten. The exercises of the gymnasium 
bring into action muscles that are little used in rowing 
and walking, and thus fulfil the condition indicated by 


EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 95 


Dr, Parkes, for maintaining a healthy state of the muscles 
that are called into severe action. Where the use of the 
gymnasium is not pussible, boxing and fencing will be 
found useful substitutes. 

Lunch.—This meal should be taken quite an hour and 
a half before going to the boat, and should be as light as 
possible. Bread and butter, with cold chicken, or cold 
roast meat; a glass of light bitter ale, or, better still, 
cold spring water. 

Afternoon Exercise.—At 2°30 say the active exercise 
of the day is commenced. This for College races 
usually consists in rowing about one mile at full speed, 
three miles at three-quarter speed, and one and a half 
mile at half-speed. Long distance rows at three-quarter 
speed should be adopted twice a week; on those days 
the course would not be rowed at full speed. The time 
spent on the river should not exceed, when the course 
is rowed, more than one hour and twenty minutes ; 
when the long journey is made, about two hours and a 
quarter should be allowed. If more time is required, 
the crew should start earlier, so as to return at least an 
hour and a half before dinner. After the row the men 
should have a rub down with a wet sponge, followed by 
a good “ towelling,” and walk gwzetly back to their rooms 
and rest till the dinner hour. 

Dinner.—Usually at six o’clock. Meat, slowly roasted 


96 EXERCISE AND TRAINING. 


and full of gravy, either beef or mutton. Roast fowls 
twice in the week advisable, as a change; and boiled fish 
(soles, cod, haddock, turbot, whiting) may be added, if 
any of the men fall off in appetite, or suffer from consti- 
pation and boils. Plenty of green food, in the shape of 
spinach, turnip-tops, asparagus, broccoli, young green 
cabbage, French beans; beet-root or tomato excellent. 
Potatoes limited to one of fair size, mealy, and thoroughly 
cooked. Stale bread. Light farinaceous puddings, 
tapioca, sago, &c. Baked apples, stewed pears, rhubarb, 
prunes. Light table ale, one pint. No wine recom- 
mended ; a glass of light claret, if desired, permitted. 
Supper.—At 10 o'clock, one pint of oatmeal gruel. 
Bed. —By 11 o'clock during the first period of training, 
and at 10°30 P.M., during the last week, all members of 


the crew should be actually in bed.* 
Cres 


* These rules are subject to some modification, according as the 
training is carried out in the winter or summer months. In the 
former case the exercise is done in the afternoon before dinner ; in 
the latter, in the evening and after dinner. In this case dinner is 
at half-past one and supper is taken at nine P.M., after the evening 
row, and should consist of cold meat, chicken, stale bread, water- 
cress, one pint of cold spring water or of weak tea, or a basin of 
oatmeal porridge. 


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